<P> Available documentation shows that this flag was sewn by local flagmaker Mary Young Pickersgill under a government commission in 1813 at a cost of $405.90 (equivalent to $5,037 in 2016). George Armistead, the commander of Fort McHenry, specified "a flag so large that the British would have no difficulty seeing it from a distance". </P> <P> Mary Pickersgill stitched the flag from a combination of cotton and dyed English wool bunting, assisted by her daughter, two nieces, and an African American indentured servant . (Her elderly mother may also have helped .) The flag has fifteen horizontal red and white stripes, as well as fifteen white stars in the blue field . The two additional stars and stripes, approved by the United States Congress's Flag Act of 1794, represent Vermont and Kentucky's entrance into the Union . The stars are arranged in vertical rows, with five horizontal rows of stars, offset, each containing three stars . At the time, the practice of adding stripes (in addition to stars) with the induction of a new state had not yet been discontinued . </P> <P> The flag originally measured 30 by 42 feet (9.1 by 12.8 m). Each of the fifteen stripes is 2 feet (0.61 m) wide, and each of the stars measures about 2 feet (0.61 m) in diameter . After the battle, the Armistead family occasionally gave away pieces of the flag as souvenirs and gifts; this cutting, along with deterioration from continued use, removed several feet of fabric from the flag's fly end, and it now measures 30 by 34 feet (9.1 by 10.4 m). The flag currently has only fourteen stars--the fifteenth star was similarly given as a gift, but its recipient and current whereabouts are unknown . </P> <P> The Flag was flown over the fort when 5,000 British soldiers and a fleet of 19 ships attacked Baltimore on September 12, 1814 . The bombardment turned to Fort McHenry on the evening of September 13, and continuous shelling occurred for 25 hours under heavy rain . When the British ships were unable to pass the fort and penetrate the harbor, the attack was ended, and on the morning of September 14, when the battered flag still flew above the ramparts, it was clear that Fort McHenry remained in American hands . This revelation was famously captured in poetry by Key, an American lawyer and amateur poet . Being held by the British on a truce ship in the Patapsco River, Key observed the battle from afar . When he saw the Garrison Flag still flying at dawn of the morning of the 14th, he composed a poem he originally titled "Defence of Fort M'Henry". The poem would be put to the music of a common tune, retitled "The Star - Spangled Banner", and a portion of it would later be adopted as the United States National Anthem . Since its arrival at the Smithsonian, the flag has undergone multiple preservation efforts . </P>

Where can you find the original star spangled banner today