Why America's 250th birthday is multi-branded
Plus: The U.S. Constitution is on the blockchain
Cut some slack to the musicians who dropped out of the Freedom 250 Great American State Fair shortly after it was announced. With multiple organizations putting on commemorations for the 250th anniversary of America’s founding next month, it can be hard to tell them apart.
Nearly the entire lineup of the multi-day festival planned for the National Mall in Washington, D.C., dropped out except Flo Rida and Vanilla Ice. President Donald Trump suggested he headline the festival himself by holding a rally, then posted on social media Saturday that it should just be canceled. Artists who dropped out, like Martina McBride and Bret Michaels, explained that they felt misled that the event was not nonpartisan as they were told.
Confusion is everywhere ahead of the nation’s big birthday in July as separate organizations make their own plans, and McBride isn’t likely the only one unaware of the distinctions. Fifty years ago for the nation’s bicentennial there was a single brand that marked the occasion, but in 2026 for the semiquincentennial, it’s diluted between two brands from two different branches of government, America 250 and Freedom 250.
America 250 is the original, older and nonpartisan. Founded a decade ago in 2016 by Congress, its logo is a red, white, and blue ribbon that spells out “250” designed by Chermayeff & Geismar & Haviv, the same design firm behind the Bicentennial logo for 1976.
Then you have Freedom 250, which is newer and founded by Trump in an executive order last year. Its logo is “Freedom 250” written in serifs inside a circle of 13 stars like the original U.S. flag.
America 250 has a head start and major placements at big events like NFL games, where it was stenciled on the field, and at Times Square on New Year’s Eve. Its initiatives include a time capsule, and America Gives, a volunteerism campaign.
Meanwhile Freedom 250 appears at events and activations put on by the executive branch and endorsed by Trump, like his UFC fight on the White House grounds or his Department of Transportation’s Freedom 250 train that included his name on the car. A promotional video for the forthcoming Freedom 250 Grand Prix race through the streets of D.C. shows a cartoon of Trump giving a thumbs up to a bald eagle in Marine One.
Though Freedom 250 has described itself as a nonpartisan nonprofit, the fact it was started by Trump through an executive order after a nonpartisan organization already existed makes that claim harder to justify.
The group’s events run parallel to other Trump administration efforts to put his name or likeness on government assets like currency and a monument to ostensibly celebrate the holiday. And Freedom 250 partners like PragerU, the Koch brothers’ group Americans for Prosperity, and the Museum of the Bible appeal especially to conservatives and evangelicals in Trump’s political base.
Tied to Trump, Freedom 250 appeals to his existing fans, but their numbers are shrinking as his net job approval ratings reach new lows. The Freedom 250 effort is pushing Trump’s toxic brand at a time when he’s never been more unpopular.
Publicly, America 250 is gracious about Freedom 250. “Together, we will ensure that our nation’s 250th anniversary becomes a unifying and unforgettable moment for all Americans,” America 250’s website reads. The Trump administration, though, has withheld tens of millions of dollars meant for America 250 while funding Freedom 250 with taxpayer money, according to documents obtained by NOTUS.
With a month to go until July 4, though, it’s not clear either brand has particularly penetrated the zeitgeist, nor does either have much time to do so. The brands are diluted, and for millions of Americans, the logo they may well associate with the commemoration next month could come from state-specific logos, or logos from corporate 250 tie-ins rather than the logos from the federal government. In an era of declining trust of institutions, it tracks.
This story first appeared in Fast Company.
The U.S. Constitution is on the blockchain
Someone published the entire U.S. Constitution, Bill of Rights, and all the Amendments on the blockchain all thanks to a change in data limits.
An unknown user spent about $83 to inscribe the Constitution in what’s basically the notes section of their Bitcoin transaction last Thursday that was spotted online by Bitcoin Magazine and others.
It’s not the first time the Constitution has been written on the blockchain — the Bitcoin mining company MARA Holdings published the document along with a portrait of then-President-elect Donald Trump last year before the inauguration — but last week’s 44.4 kilobyte transaction showed the data storage capabilities of crypto as a platform using the Constitution without promoting a business or politician too.
The OP_RETURN field in a Bitcoin transaction is a space where text can be included. Room was once limited to 80 bytes, so people used it to attach short notes or messages that fit. Last year, though, that cap was lifted, allowing for more text to be included in the field, like a whole Constitution.
In 2021, a group of more than 17,000 people called ConstitutionDAO tried crowdfunding enough cryptocurrency to win an auction of an actual physical copy of a first edition of the Constitution, but they were outbid.
Billionaire Ken Griffin bought the document for $43.2 million, a record for any historical document. Griffin now owns the only two privately held copies of the Constitution, one of which is now on display at the South Street Seaport Museum in Manhattan. It might not be a rare, physical copy, but writing the document in the OP_RETURN field of a Bitcoin transaction is much cheaper and will always be on display.
The U.S. Constitution is the most influential constitution in the world, but it’s “also among the oldest, a relic, as brittle as bone, as hard as stone,” author Jill Lepore argues in her We The People: A History of the U.S. Constitution. “But the U.S. Constitution is neither bone nor stone,” she writes. “It is an explosion of ideas. Parchment decays and ink fades, but ideas endure; they also change.”
Digital copies of the Constitution like at the National Constitution Center’s website leave in the document’s original language even if it’s referencing something that’s been amended, like a message in the blockchain that can’t be erased. But pop-ups over highlighted, outdated text provide additional information where Amendments are relevant, like Emancipation or the popular election of Senators.
From being written on parchment with ink to Bitcoin on the blockchain, the Constitution is a document that’s stood the test of time in no small part because of its capacity to be updated. Rooted in tradition with the capacity for change embedded into its very text (see: Article V), the U.S. Constitution is a document designed to adapt and endure.
Have you seen this?
Jill Biden’s book tour begins. The former FLOTUS and English teacher is out this week with her new memoir View from the East Wing, and the only White House pet she mentions is Willow the cat, according to early reviews. Meanwhile, the view from where the East Wing once stood is an actual mess. Plus: Britney’s ex is an ally and he’s celebrating Pride. [Whig by Hunter Schwarz]
A Trump banknote is in the works, and it might be worth $250. The president has put his name and face on buildings, booze, and monuments. Next stop is your wallet. [Fast Company]
Democrats think their secret sauce in 2026 is targeting Trump and Republicans on “corruption.” “The idea is it’s an affordability cycle, and so everybody cares about affordability, No. 1, when you pair the message with the reason that your costs are going up is because politicians care more about themselves, they’re corrupt, they’re bought by corporate donors or they’re lining their own pockets, and that’s why they’re not looking out for you, that’s the most potent mix of the two arguments,” a national Democratic strategist said. [NBC News]
Val Kilmer’s icconic ‘Top Gun’ Iceman helmet is up for grabs. The auction house Goldin is selling the artifact with a starting bid of $25,000. [Artnet News]
