The United States Semiquincentennial in 2026 falls 250 years after 1776.
The calculation is direct: 2026 minus 1776 equals 250. The starting year refers to the adoption of the Declaration of Independence by the Second Continental Congress, while the later year is the anniversary year designated for the national commemoration.
A 250th anniversary is also called a semiquincentennial. It sits halfway between a bicentennial, which marks 200 years, and a tricentennial, which marks 300 years.
The date is not based on the Constitution’s ratification or the first presidential inauguration. Those milestones occurred later, in 1787 and 1789. America250 instead uses the 1776 independence milestone as the central reference point for the anniversary.