What is the standard name for America’s 250th anniversary celebration?

The standard name for America’s 250th anniversary celebration is the United States Semiquincentennial.

The term combines “semi,” meaning half, with “quincentennial,” meaning a 500th anniversary. Together, the word describes half of 500 years, or 250 years. The event is also called the Bisesquicentennial, Sestercentennial, or Quarter Millennium, but Semiquincentennial is the most widely used formal name.

The celebration honors the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, adopted by the Second Continental Congress in 1776. The America250 brand gives the nationwide observance a shorter public-facing name.

A frequent mix-up is “bicentennial,” which means 200 years. The United States celebrated its Bicentennial in 1976, two centuries after 1776. The next major anniversary after 2026 will be the Tricentennial in 2076, marking 300 years since the Declaration’s adoption.