America, as a country, runs on patriotism - love of country - perhaps more than any other state. The image of flag-waving patriots, chanting "USA! USA!"at any opportunity, including some quite inappropriate ones, is part and parcel of the country's image.
However, the percentage of those who are extremely proud or very proud has been falling steadily since the start of the 21st century, regardless of which party is in power. There was a slight uptick when a thankful populace saw Joe Biden take over from Donald Trump in 2021, but even this was just a minor blip in the scheme of things.
The percentage of Americans who were "very proud" or "extremely proud" to be called Americans was over 90% in the early 2000s, particularly after 9/11. By 2023, this was down to 67%. It would be interesting to know where this stands today after a few months of Trump 2.0. Those whom are extremely proud" has fallen from 70% to 39% over that same period.
Harvard's Youth Poll of 18-29 year olds gives a window onto another facet of this trend. In April 2025, a few months into Trump's second administration, just 41% would claim to be proud to be American, while 29% say they are embarrassed to be American. As might be expected, political affiliation is the single main factor behind these figures, with 76% of Republicans saying they are proud, but only 24% of Democrats. 54% of Democrats are embarrassed to be American, but only 8% of Republicans are.
None of this is entirely surprising, at least to us Canadians, but it's nice to see it in black and white. Huh, there's a thought: pride in America broken down by race. I think we can probably guess.
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