The fabric of our nation Students and staff of Delphi Community Elementary School formed a "living flag" Friday to honor the anniversary of the attack on Ft. McHenry and the writing of the national anthem. Photo provided Last week marked the 193rd anniversary of the attack on Ft. McHenry in Baltimore, Maryland. Students at Delphi Community Elementary School gathered near the school's playground to remember the defense of the fort and the writing of the United States NationalAnthem.

In early 1814, the British attacked Washington, D.C. and eyed Baltimore as their next target.

The British navy and army began their attack on Ft. Henry the morning of Sept. 13, 1814. The attack ended the following morning. During the assault, the British hurled hundreds of bombs and rockets at the fort, but defenders did not surrender.

Francis Scott Key watched the attack from a British ship during the night. He wrote a poemcalled the Defense of Fort McHenry which was set to the music of a well-known tavern song. The song became very popular and eventually became the national anthem.

Fort McHenry was easy to see because theAmerican commander of the fort,Maj.Armistead, ordered an extremely large flag to fly above the fort.

Mary Pickersgill, a Baltimore flagmaker, spent six weeks making the flag from over 400 yards of wool bunting. Stars on the flag were two feet wide. More than 300,000 stitches were used in its creation. The flag had 15 stars and stripes even though there were 18 states at the time.

More than 600 students and staff members formed a "living flag" to honor the Star Spangled Banner. First-graders wore blue and red and held the stars. Second and fourth grade students wore red. Third and fifthgraders wore white.

DCES Principal Bill Shidler led the students in the recitation of the Pledge ofAllegiance and Maryanna Selvidge sang the national anthem.

Members of the Delphi Volunteer Fire Department provided an aerial truck to take the picture.

Kyle Betz of John E. Fisher and Associates, an engineering firm in Lafayette, mapped the flag to scale and fit it to the size of the school's playground.