The United States is turning 250 years old, and while the milestone has inspired ambitious plans for community service drives and patriotic product launches, the celebrations are unfolding against a backdrop of national division and declining patriotism.
Well-known nonprofits had hoped the semiquincentennial would spark record-breaking volunteerism, and major corporations including Walmart and Coca-Cola have stepped in as sponsors, offering commemorative merchandise and community initiatives. But the private sector’s dreams of a unifying national moment have run into a complicated reality.
A recent survey from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research found that fewer Americans today view their country as exceptional compared to a decade ago — part of a broader erosion of patriotic sentiment. Even the American flag, a centerpiece of anniversary celebrations, stirs different feelings depending on a person’s political views, age, and racial background.
Adding to the tension are two separate commissions organizing competing events. America250, the official nonpartisan group established by Congress in 2016, has been running the primary national commemoration. But late last year, President Donald Trump created Freedom 250, a nonprofit led by his allies, to put on alternative programming.
At a June 24 campaign-style rally kicking off Freedom 250’s Great American State Fair — an event that lost nearly all of its scheduled musical performers after concerns it had become too politically charged — Trump declared: “The American dream is alive again. That’s something that nobody thought they’d be saying when you went through that last four years of incompetence.”
The tone of that event stood in sharp contrast to America250’s flagship volunteer initiative, called America Gives, which encourages Americans to serve alongside nonprofit partners and track their hours through an online tool.
Salvation Army USA National Commander Merle Heatwole, whose organization co-sponsors the America Gives program, said some potential participants have wrongly assumed the nonpartisan initiative has a political agenda. He noted that thousands of churches did participate in a “Good Neighbor Day” of volunteering in May, calling that a bright spot.
“Some people have shied away because they’re not sure whether this is a nonpartisan effort, or whether it’s connected to the Trump administration versus the Democratic administrations,” Heatwole said. “That, I think, has hindered it slightly. But I think that overall, people are excited about having an opportunity to get involved.”
The America Gives online tracker recorded just over 38 million volunteer hours heading into the holiday weekend. For context, Americans logged 4.99 billion service hours in a single year between 2022 and 2023, according to an AmeriCorps analysis of Census Bureau data — though it remains unclear exactly how many hours would set a new single-year record.
America250 Chair Rosie Rios said she expects a significant surge in reported hours by year’s end, noting that many partner organizations tend to wait until “the last second” to enter their data. She stressed that the program’s only goal is highlighting the importance of service.
One consultant who has spent 30 years in the nonprofit sector, Jayne Cravens, found that most nonprofits are not taking advantage of semiquincentennial campaigns. She pointed out that many organizations simply lack the infrastructure to deliver meaningful volunteer experiences — a problem made worse after the Trump administration significantly cut AmeriCorps, the federal agency dedicated to national service, in 2025. Nonprofits were left scrambling to replace lost staff and funding.
Audra Watson, who leads youth civic programs at the nonprofit C&S, is heading a three-year effort to boost civic participation among 20 million people between the ages of 14 and 24. She has found that most young people are getting engaged through channels unrelated to the 250th anniversary. While the milestone has generated “some excitement for some young people,” she said those participants tend to be “hand-raisers” who are already “deeply excited about history.”
Watson has found that when young people focus on local issues — where she believes they have the most real influence — partisan divisions tend to fall away.
“For some young people, the 250th is their thing,” she said. “But for many, many more of them this is about really taking that energy and catalyzing that energy around issues of their community.”
Marketing professionals say brands must walk a careful line given the country’s polarized atmosphere and declining national pride. The existence of two competing logos has only added to the confusion, marketing executives noted. The America250 emblem features a bold red, white, and blue ribbon forming the number “250,” while the Freedom 250 design uses a classic serif font inside a circle of 13 stars, a reference to the original American flag.
“Once you have two competing logos, it’s confusing,” said Allen Adamson, co-founder of the marketing consultancy Metaforce.
Walmart, a founding sponsor of America250, is supporting a mobile recording studio traveling the country to collect personal stories from Americans. A selection of those recordings will be preserved by the Library of Congress, the company said.
Coca-Cola launched a program called “Paint the Nation,” a public art project resulting in dozens of murals created in partnership with local artists across the country. The company said each mural is meant to capture local culture and community pride, building what it described as a “visual legacy that extends beyond the anniversary year.” The beverage giant is also releasing commemorative mini-cans representing all 50 states, Puerto Rico, and Washington, D.C.
Not everyone is feeling the celebratory spirit. Aaron Hilton, 36, of Suffolk, Virginia, said he has noticed plenty of paper plates, cups, and T-shirts bearing the America 250 name, but he has no interest in buying them. He attributes his lack of enthusiasm to the current political climate.
“I’ll end up getting the Coke because I do drink Coke, but otherwise I really don’t want to buy anything like that,” Hilton said. “I’m not feeling really patriotic about this.”
Darrell Brown, 60, of Alexander, Arkansas, feels very differently. He has already purchased commemorative T-shirts and flags, and he decorates his lawn every year with a 7-foot inflatable Uncle Sam. This year, he added even more American flags than usual to mark the occasion. Brown said he has been sticking to merchandise featuring the America250 logo and views the existence of two competing designs as needlessly divisive.
“I don’t believe this should be a political issue,” he said. “I think it should be just about celebrating the country, regardless if you’re a Democrat or Republican.”
Cultural historian M.J. Rymsza-Pawlowska, who wrote a book about the 1976 bicentennial, suggested that future generations may look back on the 250th with more appreciation than people feel right now. She noted that during the bicentennial, the wounds of the Vietnam War and Watergate were still fresh. President Richard Nixon had initially replaced a bipartisan planning commission with political appointees who favored a top-down celebration, but he ultimately scrapped those plans in favor of federal funding for grassroots programs. Those efforts grew into forms of civic engagement — such as environmental cleanups and voter registration drives — that remain common today.
Private donors continue to fund similar efforts, though not at the scale that government support once made possible. State humanities councils have launched a “By the People” campaign to fund community-driven programs examining the nation’s culture and envisioning its future.
“We don’t really know what the ultimate legacy of the 250th will be,” Rymsza-Pawlowska said. “A commemoration is just an opportunity to do a thing that you were already doing but have an occasion for it. And possibly get some money for it.”
