She hopes it expresses 'history, heroism and pride.'Įach twisted thread in this new artwork symbolizes individual freedom, says designer-illustrator Christoph Niemann. citizen seven years ago, created a figure in acrylic and watercolor that pays tribute to women's overlooked role in society. Blechman, a cartoonist-illustrator familiar with deadline panic, he pictured Francis Scott Key in a creative jam: 'I managed to save him (and myself) with that deus ex machina, the midshipmanĬanadian-born painter Anita Kunz, who became a U.S. But their artworks give proof that the anthem and the icon are as powerful as ever, symbols of an ever-expanding diversity of ideas about what it means to be an American.

You might be inspired by their responses, or provoked. But what is it saying now, 200 years later? We asked leading painters, musicians, poets and other artists to consider that question.

The flag itself, enshrined since 2008 in a special chamber at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History following a $7 million restoration-and due to be celebrated June 14 with a nationwide singalong (anthemforamerica.si.edu)-remains a bold statement. And when, in September 1814, the young United States turned back the invaders in a spectacular battle witnessed by Francis Scott Key, he put his joy into a verse published first as “Defence of Fort M’Henry” and then, set to the tune of a British drinking song, immortalized as “The Star-Spangled Banner.” An enormous flag, 30 by 42 feet, it was intended as a bold statement to the British warships that were certain to come. As national treasures go, it was a bargain: $405.90, paid to Mary Pickersgill of Baltimore, who fashioned it from red, blue and undyed wool, plus cotton for the 15 stars, to fly at the fortress guarding the city’s harbor.

The star spangled banner song video