Under the title "Three Cheers for the Red, White, and Blue," the song is mentioned in Chapter IX of MacKinlay Kantor's Pulitzer Prize-winning novel Andersonville (1955).

[3][2][4] That year, the copyright for the song was registered by the Philadelphia publishing house of George Willig under the name "Columbia, the Land of the Brave".

[3] Shaw subsequently published the song under his own name, though A'Becket later claimed sole authorship and presented an original handwritten composition as proof.

He stated that Irish journalist Stephen Joseph Meany penned the lyrics to Britannia, the Pride of the Ocean in 1842 which he then showed to a friend in London, Thomas E. Williams, who composed the accompanying melody.

[5] Additionally, Meany – the Irishman whom Flood credits with the lyrics to "Britannia, the Pride of the Ocean" – was a Fenian who would eventually be imprisoned by the British government.

[10] According to William Studwell, "Columbia, the Gem of the Ocean" is the "oldest well-known song of entirely American origin which could, by style or content, qualify as a national anthem".

[6] "Columbia, the Gem of the Ocean" reached a height of popularity during the presidency of Abraham Lincoln and subsequently became a staple in the repertoire of the United States Marine Band.

[12] In the 1957 musical The Music Man – set in 1912 – a full-cast rendition of "Columbia, the Gem of the Ocean" is performed during the scene depicting the town's Independence Day celebration and, from the post-World War II era through to the 1960s, the first few chords of "Columbia, the Gem of the Ocean" were used as an interval signal during Voice of America broadcasts, until ultimately replaced by "Yankee Doodle".

[12][13] During the recovery of the Apollo 11 astronauts after splashdown of the flight's command capsule (named Columbia) in the Pacific Ocean, President of the United States Richard Nixon – then embarked aboard the aircraft carrier USS Hornet – ordered the Band of the COMNAVAIRPAC (Commander, Naval Air Forces Pacific) to perform "Columbia, the Gem of the Ocean".

May thy service united ne'er sever, But hold to the colors so true; The Army and Navy forever, Three cheers for the red, white, and blue!