A Buoy Marks the Spot
Boat into Baltimore harbor, and you’ll see a buoy painted in the distinctive pattern of the American flag. The big star-topped nun — as conical buoys are called — marks the symbolic spot where The Star-Spangled Banner was born. Aboard a ship during the British bombardment of Fort McHenry in the War of 1812, Francis Scott Key wrote the poem that became our national anthem to celebrate the flag’s overnight survival: Now it catches the gleam of the morning’s first beam, In full glory reflected now shines in the stream.
The Curtis Bay crew of the Coast Guard Cutter James Rankin, a 175-foot buoy tender, reset the buoy after winter storage to mark the historic location.