Some people believe that the flag could be seen by the light of the explosions going off but that is not true. The simple fact that shooting was still going on proved that the forsat had not surrendered and thus the flag was still flying. If the fort had been taken there would have been no need to continue firing.
ANSWER:
Historians have debated over this topic for years, and no one can prove that the flag could not be seen, and no one can prove that the flag could be seen as the song suggests. The only way to know the truth was to be there, at the time the battle happened, and I don't believe that anyone from that period of time is still living.
The English lobbed exploding rockets at Napoleon at Waterloo, and they also used them against the Americans in the War of 1812. (When the British warship Erebus bombarded Fort McHenry during that war, the nightlong barrage of rocket-propelled bombs provided "the rockets red glare" mentioned by Francis Scott Key in The Star Spangled Banner.)
The English lobbed exploding rockets at Napoleon at Waterloo, and they also used them against the Americans in the War of 1812. (When the British warship Erebus bombarded Fort McHenry during that war, the nightlong barrage of rocket-propelled bombs provided "the rockets red glare" mentioned by Francis Scott Key in The Star Spangled Banner.)
The glare of rockets and bombs allowed Francis Scott Key to see the American flag still flying proudly over Fort McHenry during the Battle of Baltimore in 1814, inspiring him to write "The Star-Spangled Banner."
And the rockets' red glare, the bombs bursting in air,
They were used for military bombardment. In the Star Spangled Banner Francis Scott Key mentions "The Rockets red glare. The bombs bursting in air". Those were Congreve rockets.
From our national anthem...." the rockets red glare, the bombs bursting in air, "
The English lobbed exploding rockets at Napoleon at Waterloo, and they also used them against the Americans in the War of 1812. (When the British warship Erebus bombarded Fort McHenry during that war, the nightlong barrage of rocket-propelled bombs provided "the rockets red glare" mentioned by Francis Scott Key in The Star Spangled Banner.) (excerpt from space.com)
Fireworks have been used for centuries for celebrations. I assume in America we also use fireworks because of the symbolism behind our national anthem. "...and the rockets red glare, the bombs bursting in air..."
The English lobbed exploding rockets at Napoleon at Waterloo, and they also used them against the Americans in the War of 1812. (When the British warship Erebus bombarded Fort McHenry during that war, the nightlong barrage of rocket-propelled bombs provided "the rockets red glare" mentioned by Francis Scott Key in The Star Spangled Banner.)
Rockets Red Glare ended in 2003.
he was thinking about how the rockets red glare was bursting into the air, and other lines which then became the star spangled banner.
It is in memorial of the canon and small arms fire that occurred during the revolutionary war.. "and the rockets red glare, the bombs bursting in air..." our national anthem. so you look up in the sky and remember the fighting that made the United States of America a free country.