All articles tagged with #patriotism
Long queues for fuel in Moscow reflect shortages blamed on Ukrainian drone strikes that damaged refineries; Russia is importing petrol and allowing lower-grade Euro 2 fuel, despite warnings about engine wear. While Putin plays down panic, polling shows rising anxiety as people cope by leaning into patriotism, with Flag Day celebrations and military displays signaling a more militarised mood amid the war-related disruption.
Trump is backing the Patriot Games, a televised competition for 14–17-year-olds to win $125,000 in college scholarships, held at SPIRE Academy as part of Freedom 250's patriotic spectacle. Applicants submit videos detailing why they want to compete and how sports shaped their identity; organizers emphasize national unity, while critics view the event as political branding and question its scoring, representation, and impact on youth.
Journey keyboardist Jonathan Cain condemned celebrities who use their platform for politics, telling Bruce Springsteen to 'shut up' and arguing that art and politics should stay separate. A conservative who supports Trump and even performed at Mar-a-Lago, Cain praises patriotism, released a patriotic song, and says music should unify audiences rather than preach. He also criticized Springsteen as an 'annoying, bitter old man' and emphasized that Journey should keep politics out of their music.
Americans nationwide celebrated the United States’ 250th birthday with Fourth of July fireworks and festivities from coast to coast, even as a brutal heat wave and storms disrupted events; in DC, Trump’s Freedom 250 program was cut short by weather and concluded with a late address, while tall ships, parades, time capsules, and block parties unfolded elsewhere, all set against a backdrop of protests and the presence of white supremacist groups that underscored ongoing political polarization, even as polls suggested many hoped to put differences aside for the day.
Across major Western democracies, a POLITICO poll shows right-wing parties co-opting patriotic language and symbols to center national identity and immigration in politics, while broad pride in country remains nonpartisan; centrists and left must rethink patriotism to reclaim it without surrendering it to the far right.
President Donald Trump dominates the national celebration of America's 250th anniversary by weaving patriotic spectacle with campaign-style messaging, shaping the milestone around his leadership and worldview, while Democrats offer competing visions of patriotism amid heat, divisions, and ongoing political rivalry.
New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani used a July 3 City Hall address on the eve of America’s 250th birthday to argue true patriotism means confronting the nation’s flaws and welcoming immigrants, drawing on his own naturalized-immigrant story and imagery of workers and the Statue of Liberty; he criticized Trump-era immigration policies without naming the former president, framed America as continually reshaped by immigrants, and noted his constitutional ineligibility to become president while signaling a larger role within the Democratic Party.
The United States flag was adopted in 1777 with 13 red-and-white stripes and a blue field of stars, colors that have remained constant even as states joined the union. Although the 1777 resolution didn’t assign color meanings, Charles Thomson later linked red to valor, white to purity, and blue to vigilance, perseverance, and justice. The flag’s design briefly featured 15 stars and 15 stripes in the 1790s, then the 1818 Act fixed 13 stripes and allowed the star field to grow with new states, until Hawaii’s 1960 admission produced the current 50-star, 13-stripe flag.
Frank Scheck’s review labels Young Washington a stiff, patriotic origin tale: despite a starry cast, declamatory dialogue and uneven CGI stall the drama, failing to reveal Washington’s inner life or deliver engaging momentum, resulting in a long, mostly forgettable history primer.
On the 250th anniversary of the United States, the piece argues that marginalized Americans increasingly question their belonging under Trump, citing state violence, deportation fears, and a national mood of disillusionment. Public surveys show broad dissatisfaction and a willingness among some to leave, while scholars warn of rising fascist tendencies and a weakened democracy. The author calls for a mature, truth-centered patriotism and active civic renewal, treating democracy as a skill that must be learned and defended rather than taken for granted.
As the U.S. marks its 250th anniversary, Americans debate what the Stars and Stripes represents amid political polarization, with some displaying the flag to show patriotism, others upside-down or with alternative flags to signal distress or dissent, and flagmakers noting a surge in demand as historians note the flag’s evolving meaning.
A new AP-NORC poll finds that Americans’ pride in U.S. history and democracy has declined, and fewer people say they are proud to be American, signaling a shift in national sentiment.
Trump opened the Great American State Fair on the National Mall to celebrate America’s 250th anniversary, delivering a rallying speech that cast the moment as a return to strength and sovereignty. The kickoff featured military flyovers and patriotic performances, with the event running June 25–July 10 and showcasing 150 exhibits from all 56 states and territories, plus plans for anniversary projects and a large Fourth of July celebration; Trump touted DC improvements and framed the occasion as the start of a new era for America.
President Donald Trump will inaugurate a 16-day, world's fair-style Great American State Fair on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. (June 25-July 10, 2026) featuring pavilions from all 50 states and six territories, a 110-foot Ferris wheel, musical and civic programming, and military flyovers; after several artists withdrew, his remarks will close the event, which organizers frame as a patriotic celebration of America's 250th birthday and national unity.
As America nears its 250th birthday, LGBTQ+ artists and advocates in Philadelphia and across the country push to expand the celebratory narrative to include marginalized histories from the 1970s onward. Exhibits like This Is (Not) a Celebration foreground archival materials and queer activists, while other groups stage events aimed at a broader reckoning of who counts in American history. The conversation runs alongside debates about political attempts to rewrite history, provocative campaigns to emphasize a multicultural national identity, and a broader question of whether the bicentennial can be a celebration or a catalyst for confronting past and present inequalities.