Which phrase became the official name of the new nation in the Declaration of Independence?

The phrase United States of America became the official name of the new nation in the Declaration of Independence.

The wording appears in the document’s closing section, where the representatives declare that the colonies are free and independent states. The phrase united separate political communities without claiming that they had always formed one country.

Congress formally approved the name United States of America on September 9, 1776. Earlier documents and resolutions often used terms such as United Colonies, but the new wording matched the political transformation announced by independence.

The phrase is sometimes confused with the Declaration’s opening reference to the thirteen colonies or with later constitutional language. The Declaration established the national name in the revolutionary context; the Constitution of 1787 then created a new federal framework for the United States.