1918年4月10日,美國國會議員约翰·查尔斯·林西克姆(英语:John Charles Linthicum)提出了一項正式承認其為國歌的法案,但是沒有通過。1929年4月15日,林西克姆第6次重複該提案。1929年11月3日,罗伯特·李普利在他的《信不信由你!》(Ripley's Believe it or Not!)漫畫專欄上畫了一幅漫畫,寫道:「信不信由你,美國沒有國歌」(Believe It or Not, America has no national anthem)。
1930年,海外退伍军人协会(英语:Veterans of Foreign Wars)發起一份將这首曲子定為美國國歌的請願,共有500萬人簽名1930年1月31日,該請願被遞交至美國眾議院司法委員會。當天,Elsie Jorss-Reilley和Grace Evelyn Boudlin對委員會成員唱了這首歌,以駁斥這首歌對普通人而言音調太高的論調。委員會投票贊成將該法案遞交至眾議院投票。眾議院在當年通過了該法案。美国参议院也在1931年3月3日通過該法案。總統赫伯特·胡佛於1931年3月4日簽署該法案,正式認可《星條旗》為美國國歌。目前它已被編入美國法典,其原文是「The composition consisting of the words and music known as the Star-Spangled Banner is the national anthem.(以《星條旗》为名的音乐作品,包括其词曲,谨订为国歌。)」
O say can you see, by the dawn's early light,
What so proudly we hailed at the twilight's last gleaming,
Whose broad stripes and bright stars through the perilous fight,
O'er the ramparts we watched, were so gallantly streaming?
And the rockets' red glare, the bombs bursting in air,
Gave proof through the night that our flag was still there;
O say does that star-spangled banner yet wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave?
Ⅱ
On the shore dimly seen through the mists of the deep,
Where the foe's haughty host in dread silence reposes,
What is that which the breeze, o'er the towering steep,
As it fitfully blows, half conceals, half discloses?
Now it catches the gleam of the morning's first beam,
In full glory reflected now shines in the stream:
'Tis the star-spangled banner, O long may it wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave.
Ⅲ
And where is that band who so vauntingly swore
That the havoc of war and the battle's confusion,
A home and a country, should leave us no more?
Their blood has washed out their foul footsteps' pollution.
No refuge could save the hireling and slave
From the terror of flight, or the gloom of the grave:
And the star-spangled banner in triumph doth wave,
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave.
Ⅳ
O thus be it ever, when freemen shall stand
Between their loved homes and the war's desolation.
Blest with vict'ry and peace, may the Heav'n rescued land
Praise the Power that hath made and preserved us a nation!
Then conquer we must, when our cause it is just,
And this be our motto: 'In God is our trust.'
And the star-spangled banner in triumph shall wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave!
When our land is illumined with Liberty's smile,
If a foe from within strike a blow at her glory,
Down, down with the traitor that dares to defile
The flag of her stars and the page of her story!
By the millions unchained who our birthright have gained,
We will keep her bright blazon forever unstained!
And the Star-Spangled Banner in triumph shall wave
While the land of the free is the home of the brave.