The United States marks the 250th anniversary of adopting the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 2026.
The date commemorates the Second Continental Congress’s adoption of the Declaration in 1776. Although the Lee Resolution formally declared the colonies independent on July 2, the Declaration itself was approved two days later, making July 4 the date used for the national anniversary.
The 2026 commemoration is known as the United States Semiquincentennial and is also promoted as America250. It follows the 1976 bicentennial, which marked 200 years since the Declaration’s adoption. The anniversary date is sometimes confused with August 2, 1776, when most delegates signed the engrossed parchment copy.
The 2026 milestone is therefore tied to the Declaration’s adoption, not to the later signing process or to the creation of the Constitution in 1787.