# Re: National Anthem-- what where you taught to do? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [November 3, 2007, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-national-anthem-what-where-you-taught-to-do/425132 "2007-11-03T20:21:19Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Biggirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biggirl/32/3294_2.png) [@Biggirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biggirl)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2007, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-national-anthem-what-where-you-taught-to-do/425132/1 "2007-11-03T20:21:19Z")
[In this Pit thread about Obama Barak not putting his hand over his heart for the National Anthem](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?p=9141259&posted=1#post9141259) the OP says she was taught to put her/his hand over the heart for The Star Spangled Banner in elementary school. That’s not what I was taught. I was taught to do this for the Pledge of Allegiance and to stand quietly for the song. What where you taught? I mean, you United Statesians, of course. ---
**Author:** ![pravnik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8edcca/32.png) [@pravnik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pravnik)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2007, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-national-anthem-what-where-you-taught-to-do/425132/2 "2007-11-03T20:24:54Z")
I think put my hand over my heart, but now you’ve got me questioning that. ---
**Author:** ![Biggirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biggirl/32/3294_2.png) [@Biggirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biggirl)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2007, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-national-anthem-what-where-you-taught-to-do/425132/3 "2007-11-03T20:29:18Z")
Maybe this makes a difference and people should add this information: I went to elementary school in The Bronx in the '70s. ---
**Author:** ![pravnik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8edcca/32.png) [@pravnik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pravnik)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2007, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-national-anthem-what-where-you-taught-to-do/425132/4 "2007-11-03T20:32:41Z")
Small town Texas in the 70’s. The National Anthem was primarily associated with high school football games. ---
**Author:** ![Richard\_Parker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/35a633/32.png) [@Richard\_Parker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richard_Parker)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2007, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-national-anthem-what-where-you-taught-to-do/425132/5 "2007-11-03T20:35:51Z")
I was taught to stand, and take off a hat if wearing one. Hand on heart was optional, but should be done with the right hand. I think my teacher used this to teach us that the heart is actually near the center of the chest. (Colorado, 1980’s). ---
**Author:** ![Orual](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/779978/32.png) [@Orual](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Orual)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2007, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-national-anthem-what-where-you-taught-to-do/425132/6 "2007-11-03T20:38:20Z")
Elementary school in Wisconsin and Southeast Michigan in the late 80s/early 90s. I was taught to put my hand over my heart for the pledge, to stand/take off my hat for the anthem. ---
**Author:** ![Sycorax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a4c791/32.png) [@Sycorax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sycorax)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2007, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-national-anthem-what-where-you-taught-to-do/425132/7 "2007-11-03T20:43:53Z")
Washington, D. C. schools (many years ago–I don’t know what they do now): standing, hand over heart for anthem; standing, hand over heart for pledge of allegiance. ---
**Author:** ![RachelChristine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/7ab992/32.png) [@RachelChristine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RachelChristine)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2007, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-national-anthem-what-where-you-taught-to-do/425132/8 "2007-11-03T20:46:37Z")
I guess I was taught to put my hand over my heart, as that is what I do, but I’ve noticed for years that not everyone does it. Everyone stands and takes off their hat, but in any given crowd I’m in there are lots of people with hands on hearts and lots of people without it. I’m 31 in WV. ---
**Author:** ![Lanzy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/74df32/32.png) [@Lanzy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lanzy)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2007, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-national-anthem-what-where-you-taught-to-do/425132/9 "2007-11-03T20:53:24Z")
Just Stand, that all, although I see a lot of hands on heart. ---
**Author:** ![yellowval](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/919ad9/32.png) [@yellowval](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yellowval)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2007, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-national-anthem-what-where-you-taught-to-do/425132/10 "2007-11-03T20:57:32Z")
I was taught to stand and look at the flag, with hands at my sides or clasped in front of me or behind my back. I’ve seen people put their hands over their hearts, but not often. I attended elementary school in the 1980s in a small Minnesota town. ---
**Author:** ![Ferret\_Herder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e47774/32.png) [@Ferret\_Herder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferret_Herder)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2007, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-national-anthem-what-where-you-taught-to-do/425132/11 "2007-11-03T20:59:49Z")
[QUOTE=Orual] Elementary school in Wisconsin and Southeast Michigan in the late 80s/early 90s. I was taught to put my hand over my heart for the pledge, to stand/take off my hat for the anthem. [/QUOTE] School in Wisconsin in the 70’s-80s, and same thing. ---
**Author:** ![foxymoron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/d26b3c/32.png) [@foxymoron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/foxymoron)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2007, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-national-anthem-what-where-you-taught-to-do/425132/12 "2007-11-03T21:11:53Z")
Hand over heart for the pledge, just standing for the anthem. I can’t even recall when I would have heard the Star Spangled Banner in a public setting, though. I just know what I do now. In second grade every morning we recited the Pledge of Allegiance, sang America the Beautiful, and the state song. The state song is really hard to sing, even as a grown-up. This was Alaska, late 70s-early 80s. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2007, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-national-anthem-what-where-you-taught-to-do/425132/13 "2007-11-03T21:12:26Z")
Educated in California in the '80s. I remember being taught the pledge of alleigance, and I remember being taught how to properly handle a flag, but I don’t recall ever being taught anything about what to do during the national anthem, one way or the other. ---
**Author:** ![OtakuLoki](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ac8455/32.png) [@OtakuLoki](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OtakuLoki)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2007, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-national-anthem-what-where-you-taught-to-do/425132/14 "2007-11-03T21:25:31Z")
What I was taught was right out of something from the fifties, or earlier. But it was 1970s Eastern Massachusetts. I was taught that men would remove hats, stand erect, and place their hands over their chest. Women would stand erect, hats in place (Yes, the assumption was that they would wear one - and yes, the girls in class tittered over this.), and they would place their hands over their chest, _provided it wouldn’t do anything detrimental to their clothing_. Sexist? Just a little. Outdated? You betcha. Was that what I was taught? Yup. ---
**Author:** ![hawksgirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ed655f/32.png) [@hawksgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hawksgirl)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2007, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-national-anthem-what-where-you-taught-to-do/425132/15 "2007-11-03T21:35:31Z")
Californian, elementary school in the 90’s. I was taught to stand and look at the flag, hand or hat over heart optional. Usually the only times I hear it, I’m playing it (marching band), in which case we leave hats on. ---
**Author:** ![hawksgirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ed655f/32.png) [@hawksgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hawksgirl)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2007, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-national-anthem-what-where-you-taught-to-do/425132/16 "2007-11-03T21:46:16Z")
Is it ok to go off-topic for a sec? A few weeks ago the band made a trip to a football game in North Dakota. As their band finished the national anthem, the crowd stood up and “for the land of the free…and the home…of the…BISON!!!”. It basically scared the crap out of me. I’m normally one to believe in heavy patriotic symbolism, but that just felt…wrong. The fact that they screamed the last part didn’t help any as we all looked at each other in horror. ---
**Author:** ![Dusty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a183cd/32.png) [@Dusty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dusty)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2007, 10:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-national-anthem-what-where-you-taught-to-do/425132/17 "2007-11-03T22:08:38Z")
I can’t recall the topic ever coming up, the national anthem was never played. For the pledge of allegiance, which was done sporadically in elementary school, never in middle school, and only after 9/11 in high school, you were asked to stand. Anything else was optional (and I very much doubt they’d say anything if you didn’t stand, either–we had far too many Canadian or mixed Canadian/American students to risk offending). Maine schools, throughout the '90s up to 2002. ---
**Author:** ![Moriarty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/moriarty/32/49_2.png) [@Moriarty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moriarty)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2007, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-national-anthem-what-where-you-taught-to-do/425132/18 "2007-11-03T22:42:11Z")
At a Baltimore Orioles game, I was taught to loudly yell out “O” at the beginning of the song. ---
**Author:** ![jackelope](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a6a055/32.png) [@jackelope](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jackelope)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2007, 12:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-national-anthem-what-where-you-taught-to-do/425132/19 "2007-11-04T00:16:33Z")
I was taught to stand up and put my right hand over my heart. If wearing a hat, I was taught to hold the hat in my right hand and put the _hat_ over my heart for some reason. And if in uniform–including a Cub Scouts uniform, as I was from time to time–one would stand and salute the nearest flag. (The Cub Scout salute is like the military salute, but done with the thumb and pinky touching each other while the three center fingers are straight.) I was taught to do this for the Pledge of Allegiance _and_ for the anthem. This was in Jacksonville and Atlanta, mid- to late-70s. **Atomicktom** , at Atlanta Braves games they used to (and maybe still do) show graphics on the big scoreboard during the anthem. During “o’er the land of the free, and the home of the brave,” they would show the Braves’ team logo. ---
**Author:** ![herownself](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/8baadc/32.png) [@herownself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/herownself)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2007, 12:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-national-anthem-what-where-you-taught-to-do/425132/20 "2007-11-04T00:17:47Z")
[QUOTE=Atomicktom] At a Baltimore Orioles game, I was taught to loudly yell out “O” at the beginning of the song. [/QUOTE] Baseball is about the only place I see/hear/sing the anthem. Wasn’t taught any behavior, other than how to sing it nice when the choir was singing it for the ball game. And _we_ weren’t allowed to yell out the “O”. At least not too much. At the ball game, I usually see men wearing baseball caps take them off and put them over their hearts (my guess is so that they have something to do with their hands). Everybody else figures out what to do with their hands for themselves. The only rule is no hats on for the anthem. Performers excluded. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-national-anthem-what-where-you-taught-to-do/425132.md?page=2)