"The Star-Spangled Banner" is the national anthem of the United States of America. The lyrics come from "Defense of Fort M'Henry",[1] a poem written on September 13, 1814 by the 35-year-old lawyer and amateur poet Francis Scott Key after witnessing the bombardment of Fort McHenry by British ships of the Royal Navy in Baltimore Harbor during the Battle of Fort McHenry in the War of 1812.