Did you know that it took 117 years for “The Star-Spangled Banner” to become the United States national anthem? Before 1931, several patriotic songs were used at official functions without official designation.

One of the first was “Hail Columbia” which was written for George Washington’s 1789 inauguration. Composed by German immigrant Philip Phile, lyrics were added to the march in 1798. It debuted at a Philadelphia concert and is still used today when the Vice President enters a room.

The lyrics to “America” (or “My Country ‘Tis of Thee”) were written in 1831 when Lowell Mason asked his friend Samuel Francis Smith to adapt some tunes that he found in an old German music book. The two had no idea that their “new” patriotic song shared a melody with Great Britain’s “God Save The King.” Despite its connection to the nation’s former foes, the song became a hit after its first performance at Boston’s Park Street Church.

In 1893, Katharine Lee Bates wrote the poem “Pike’s Peak” when she visited Colorado during a lecture tour. Two years later, the poem appeared in print, and after a few tweaks in 1904, the words became so popular that folks started fitting them to every song they could think of, including “Auld Lang Syne.” Eventually, Bates’ words would be set to the 1882 tune “Materna” by Augustus Ward, and by 1926, the song would be known as “America, the Beautiful.”

Francis Scott Key’s 1814 ditty about the attack on Fort McHenry gained popularity during the Civil War, but it didn’t become an anthem contender until President Woodrow Wilson ordered it to be played at all military events in 1916. On March 3,1931, Congress passed a joint resolution making “The Star-Spangled Banner” the country’s official anthem once and for all.