Sousa received many honors and accolades

Sousa received a great deal of acclaim for his contributions and popularity both during his lifetime and after. An interesting fact about John Philip Sousa is that because of his global fame, he was awarded the Royal Victorian Medal and the Portuguese Order of Public Instruction, the latter of which was given to him by King Edward VII of the United Kingdom in recognition of his conducting of a private birthday concert for Queen Alexandra. He was given the name John Philip Sousa in honor of the World War II Liberty Ship, and in 1976, he was inducted posthumously into the Hall of Fame for Great Americans.

Sousa was a renowned musician and patriot who was also well-known both before and after his death in 1932. He received numerous honors and varied tributes, including the dedication of the Pennsylvania Avenue bridge in Washington, DC, over the Anacostia River in December 1939; the renaming of the Marine Band's barracks in 1974 to the John Philip Sousa Band Hall; his inclusion in the Hall of Fame for Great Americans in 1976; and the 1987 adoption of The Stars and Stripes Forever as the National Anthem of the United States.

To commemorate John Sousa's 150th birthday, the new band hall at the marine barracks annex was named after him in 2004 by General Michael Hagee, 33rd Commandant of the Marine Corps. In November 2005, he unveiled an 8-foot-tall bronze statue of Sousa outside the band hall.