Meanings
comparative more star-spangled · superlative most star-spangled
- USadorned with starshaped emblems, especially as spangles woven into fabric or other material; identifying the United States flag or another star-based design that resembles the United States flag.
A star-spangled flag signed by Japanese internment survivors is a complicated part of American history that is often glossed over in school textbooks, but now, it is coming to life at the Mills Station Art and Culture Center.
2023 February 9, “Traveling exhibit in Rancho Cordova explores complex history of Japanese internment camps”, in CBS News, retrieved 13 Sep 2026 - figurativelyquintessentially American; displaying feelings of patriotic pride in American identity.
As America prepares to celebrate the 200th Anniversary of the National Anthem, Maryland is hosting a Star-Spangled Spectacular, replete with Navy ships, Blue Angels and two star-studded patriotic concerts.
2014 September 11, Dan Joerres, “Star-Spangled 200 celebrates national anthem”, in WBALTV.com, Baltimore: WBAL-TV, retrieved 13 Sep 2026 - figurativelyrepresenting, upholding, or believing in traditional American values and the moral purpose of American society and culture.
Many of the iconic [comic book] works from this time [the 1980s] broke precedent by portraying morally ambiguous superheroes who weren't pure or star-spangled.
2014 September 11, Vikram Nijhawan, “'It's My Love Letter to Superheroes': An Interview with Villal Pando”, in Hazlitt, Toronto: Penguin Random House Canada, retrieved 13 Sep 2026
Origin
Best-known from Francis Scott Key's 1814 poem "Defence of Fort M'Henry": "O! say does that star-spangled Banner yet wave, / O'er the Land of the free, and the home of the brave?" "Defence of Fort M'Henry" was set to music with the title "The Star-Spangled Banner" and was officially designated as the national anthem of the United States in 1931. The line was inspired by the sight of a garrison flag (with 15 stars and 15 stripes) flying over Fort McHenry after the Battle of Baltimore during the War of 1812; that particular flag, preserved for exhibition in the National Museum of American History, is itself known as the Star-Spangled Banner. Key had used the similar phrase "Star Spangled flag" in his 1805 poem "When the Warrior Returns". The phrase is often used to refer or allude to the flag of the United States in general, the design of which traditionally adds a new star for each state admitted into the Union.
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
star-spangled. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/star-spangled
“star-spangled.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/star-spangled. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “star-spangled,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/star-spangled.
Source: star-spangled on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.