At various times in the more than 100 years that have elapsed since the song was written, particularly during the John F. Kennedy administration, there have been efforts to give " America the Beautiful " legal status either as a national hymn, or as a national anthem equal to, or in place of, " The Star-Spangled Banner ", but so far this has not succeeded.

Popularity of the song increased greatly following the September 11, 2001 attacks ; at some sporting events it was sung in addition to the traditional singing of the national anthem.

Created by the Scottish-born composer, Peter Dodds McCormick, the song was first performed in 1878, but did not gain its status as the official anthem until 1984.

In 2001, the National Guard unit was designated an official military unit of the Bulgarian army and one of the symbols of state authority, along with the flag, the coat of arms and the national anthem.

The most recent was in May 2012, when Washington Post columnist Mike Wise published a piece entitled " Fans who yell ‘ Oh !’ during national anthem are tainting a moment meant to unite Americans ".

One of his major works was to bring " Hen Wlad Fy Nhadau " ( the Welsh national anthem ) back in Brittany and create lyrics in Breton.

After that, in 1990, it was eliminated from the anthem and only sung in military events as part of the full song.

In the celebrations marking the return of democracy in March 1990 at Santiago's Estadio Nacional de Chile, the anthem was played in its present melody, raised to F Major ( the Royal Musical Official Version of the anthem ) which is the original melody of the second anthem by Carnicer, but using the 1847 lyrics as text, save for the original chorus.

As the anniversary of Confederation, Dominion Day, and later Canada Day, was the date set for a number of important events, such as the first national radio network hookup by the Canadian National Railway ( 1927 ), the inauguration of the CBC's cross-country television broadcast ( 1958 ), the flooding of the Saint Lawrence Seaway ( 1958 ), the first colour television transmission in Canada ( 1966 ), the inauguration of the Order of Canada ( 1967 ), and the establishment of " O Canada " as the country's national anthem ( 1980 ).

The music was written by Joseph Haydn in 1797 as an anthem for the birthday of the Austrian Emperor Francis II of the Holy Roman Empire.

In order to endorse its republican and liberal tradition, the song was chosen for national anthem of Germany in 1922, during the Weimar Republic.

Upon German reunification in 1990, only the third stanza was confirmed as the national anthem.

The song was a birthday anthem to Francis II, Holy Roman Emperor of the House of Habsburg.

Haydn was instructed to compose an anthem which could rival in merit the British " God save the King ".

The adoption of the hitherto Austrian anthem by Germany in 1922 was not opposed by Austria, as this helped the government in weakening the monarchist causes.

Additionally, a declaration by sixteen Member States on the symbols, including the flag, was included in the final act of the Treaty of Lisbon stating that the flag, the anthem, the motto and the currency and Europe Day " will for them continue as symbols to express the sense of community of the people in the European Union and their allegiance to it.

Francis Scott Key ( August 1, 1779 – January 11, 1843 ) was an American lawyer, author, and amateur poet, from Georgetown, who wrote the lyrics to the United States ' national anthem, " The Star-Spangled Banner ".

It was adopted in 1795 as the nation's first anthem.

Although usually thought of as a spiritual, the earliest recorded use of the song was as a rallying anthem for the Contrabands at Fort Monroe sometime before July 1862.

Her classic anthem " I Will Survive " was inducted under the Records Inductees category.

This volume gave Glan Rhondda its more famous title, Hen wlad fy nhadau, and was sold in large quantities and ensured the popularity of the anthem across the whole of Wales.

It was increasingly sung at patriotic gatherings and gradually it developed into a national anthem.

Although crowds singing anthems during matches was common place, there was no precedent for the anthem to be sung before a game commenced in any sport.

In common usage among many Protestant churches, an " anthem " often refers to any short sacred choral work presented during the course of a worship service.

The Colgate Thirteen performed the national anthem, while the Stetson University Army ROTC Color Guard presented the Colors.

The first known " Flag of Finland " was presented in 1848, along with the national anthem Maamme.

The melody of the Brazilian national anthem was composed by Francisco Manuel da Silva and was presented to the public for the first time in April 1831.

The new anthem was presented to Stalin in the summer of 1943 and was introduced as the country's new anthem on January 1, 1944.

PSG presented its official anthem and mascot in 2010.

Despite an often cited singular instance of his hissing at the national anthem, he was courted by royalty and presented with several gold medals, one of them from the Russian Tsar Nicholas, on whom a visit to Wallsend colliery on Tyneside had made an unforgettable impression: ‘ My God ,’ he had cried, ‘ it is like the mouth of Hell .’ Martin became the official historical painter to Prince Leopold of Saxe-Coburg, later the first King of Belgium.

This Soviet era anthem was confirmed in Article 169 of the 1978 Constitution of the Lithuanian SSR ( this is the version presented below ).

The Soviet era anthem for the Lithuanian SSR is presented below:

The bill to adopt Tavisupleba as the anthem was presented by the Minister of Culture Giorgi Gabashvili ; in which the music was played for the deputies soon afterwards.

For the second weekend running Ansell performed a track from his album Forever live at Wembley, this time to sing the footballing anthem Nessun Dorma at Soccer Aid on Sunday, 7 September whilst the teams were presented to Sir Geoff Hurst.

From time to time it has been proposed as a replacement for The Star-Spangled Banner as the national anthem, including television sign-offs.

* 1954 – Radio Pakistan broadcasts the " Qaumī Tarāna ", the national anthem of Pakistan for the first time.

* 2004 – The National Assembly of Serbia unanimously adopts new state symbols for Serbia: Bože pravde becomes the new anthem and the coat of arms is adopted for the whole country.

In order for the song to become the anthem, it had to face a vote between the Royal anthem God Save the Queen, the " unofficial anthem " Waltzing Matilda and Song of Australia.

The term anthem means either a specific form of Anglican church music ( in music theory and religious contexts ), or more generally, a song ( or composition ) of celebration, usually acting as a symbol for a distinct group of people, as in the term " national anthem " or " sports anthem ".

Though the anthem of the Church of England is analogous to the motet of the Roman Catholic and Lutheran Churches, both being written for a trained choir and not for the congregation, it is as a musical form essentially English in its origin and development.

The anthem developed as a replacement for the Catholic " votive antiphon " commonly sung as an appendix to the main office to the Blessed Virgin Mary or other saints.

Late in the sixteenth century the " verse anthem ", in which passages for solo voices alternated with passages for full choir, developed.

Examples include Edward Elgar's Great is the Lord ( 1912 ) and Give unto the Lord ( 1914 ) ( both with orchestral accompaniment ), Benjamin Britten's Rejoice in the Lamb ( 1943 ) ( a modern example of a multi-movement anthem and today heard mainly as a concert piece ), and, on a much smaller scale, Ralph Vaughan Williams ' O taste and see ( 1952 ) ( written for the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II ).

The word " anthem " is commonly used to describe a celebratory song or composition for a distinct group, as in the term " national anthem ".

Examples of this wider range of anthem subjects include Marilyn Manson's Irresponsible Hate Anthem and Silverchair's Anthem for the Year 2000.

The song remains an anthem to regret for unwise decisions in the past and recognition that there's no need to send in the clowns-they're already here.