Deryk Barker replies to the bracketed Dave:

>>[Sorry, but the national anthem of the US is based on a
>different tune.  We
>>do have a version of GSTQ with somewhat different lyrics, but
>it's not our
>>anthem.  -Dave]
>
>Dave, are you saying that My Country 'tis of Thee has never been the
>US anthem?

Yup.  That's what he's saying.  The US in fact had no official anthem
until, I believe, the 1920s or 1930s.  It took an act of Congress to
make The Star-Spangled Banner the bona fide, official national anthem.
Previously, it was just another "national hymn," like the English "Rule
Britannia."

Steve Schwartz

 [The U.S. had no official anthem until 1931 when congress voted the
 Star-Spangled Banner as the national anthem.  It had already been
 adopted as the official anthem of the both the Army and the Navy.
 In the 19th century the version of GSTQ called "My Country Tis of
 Thee" was known as a "children's anthem"  in this country and sung
 in schools.  -Dave]