1814 Flag of the United States of America, 15 Stars

I propose we should sing the fourth verse of The Star Spangled Banner at sporting events and other activities, instead of the first verse which we currently sing. I am serious.

The following is the fourth verse of The Star Spangled Banner, originally titled Defence of Fort McHenry, written by Francis Scott Key in September 1814:

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 Heaven-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!

The first verse, the one we currently sing, is a question. Key was being held by the British the night their navy attacked Fort McHenry. He did not know which side was winning. His only reassurances we had not lost yet were the explosions (“the rockets red glare, the bombs bursting in air”) off in the distance. When we sing these words, we are asking whether or not our flag will still be flying over this land. We are asking whether or not our country will still exist.

The fourth verse is a fitting summary of what makes our nation great. Lines one and two vow that the free people of this nation will always stand and fight if ever our homeland is threatened.  Lines three through six assert the principle that if we assume our responsibility to fight when our cause is just, then God will continue to bless our nation with the good fortune it has experienced since its founding.  And if we bravely continue down this path, then (lines seven and eight) our flag will forever fly over this land, and our nation shall remain free.