A new look at generational patriotism shows Gen Z and younger millennials are far less likely to describe themselves as patriotic than older Americans. The story is tied to a wider backdrop of collapsing trust in government, set against personal experiences an
Gen Z grew up learning what it meant to feel unsettled about the country—first in the aftermath of the Sept. 11. 2001 attacks. then through the long aftershocks of the 2008 financial crisis and recession. and later during the COVID-19 pandemic. when schools shut down and the social fabric seemed to strain.
By the time the conversation turns to patriotism, a survey shows that skepticism is not just loud—it’s measurable. In a poll from Deseret News/Hinckley Institute of Politics, 69% of U.S. voters described themselves as “somewhat” or “very” patriotic. But the generational split is stark: 56% of 18- to 34-year-old respondents said they were “somewhat” or “very” patriotic. compared with 61% of 35- to 44-year-olds and 67% of 45- to 64-year-olds. Respondents 65 and older were the most patriotic, with 86% saying the same.
That pattern echoes another data point. A 2025 YouGov poll found that 68% of respondents said they were patriotic. with the youngest respondents again least likely to describe themselves that way. And a 2013 analysis from the Pew Research Center found the generational gap in patriotism has been consistently present since 2003.
The author’s argument isn’t that young people are naturally immune to love of country. It’s that patriotism has been complicated—filtered through politics. economic strain. and institutions that many feel no longer deserve belief. “It isn’t just about President Donald Trump. ” the piece insists. placing the decline in a wider climate shaped by war-era fear and repeated crises.
The distrust, in the author’s telling, isn’t abstract. The article points to a period of deep political and social rupture: the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade is cited as leaving women with fewer rights than their mothers had. Government agents patrolling streets and rounding up immigrants—including “killing American citizens”—is also described. alongside the claim that trans people are being erased after being only recently recognized by the U.S. government.
The author also connects disillusionment to trust metrics that have been trending down. The piece says only 17% of Americans trust the government to do what is right. describing it as one of the lowest levels since the Pew Research Center began collecting data nearly seven decades ago. It also cites a Pew Research Center poll finding that Americans’ trust in one another is down from what it was in 1972. In 2024, it adds, just over half of Americans said the American dream was still possible.
Within that environment. the author says it’s easy to see why patriotism can feel like the wrong language—especially when it gets fused to a specific political version of loyalty. The argument reaches back to history to make the point: the piece notes that even in the 20th century. when boomers might be the most patriotic generation now. they protested the Vietnam War by marching and burning American flags.
But the most personal part of the piece is the refusal to abandon faith in the nation entirely. The author says she was born in 1997. making her among the oldest of Gen Z. and argues she understands why people her age would have negative feelings toward patriotism—because suffering has been real and visible.
Yet she still calls herself a patriot, laying out what that word means to her when it isn’t treated like a loyalty test. She says she isn’t a nationalist, but she believes in U.S. founding principles. She frames herself as part of a slim majority that understands why those principles still matter.
She writes that the country isn’t perfect. but “worth saving. ” and describes pride tied to places and daily life rather than slogans. She points to seeing the New York City skyline on her commute to work and to the “everyday wonder” of knowing that 8 million people from all over the world coexist “fairly peacefully” in the city. She also ties pride to North Carolina’s nature. including a river she swam in with high school friends and a mountain that welcomes her home.
Cultural memory plays a role too. She says she feels something reading Joan Didion’s depictions of California—despite never having been there—because the writing lets her picture it vividly. The article also describes feeling something after reading “The 1619 Project. ” not because she was angry at its content but because she viewed it as “an act of patriotism” created in pursuit of “a more equal. honest nation.”.
She says she felt that patriotism in a visit to the Stonewall Inn. picturing the LGBTQ+ people who decided they were no longer going to tolerate abuse from law enforcement. She also writes about feeling it when thinking of marginalized communities fighting to make real the promise of the founding fathers’ language—“all men are created equal. ” and a right to “life. liberty. and the pursuit of happiness.”.
Even the act of journalism becomes part of her definition. She says she feels it “as a member of the free press,” and in “rare moments of bipartisanship and change,” even when they are incremental.
There is also family history. The author says she feels it when she speaks to her abuelo, “a Cuban refugee who was taken in by this country during the revolution,” and the article adds that this makes her think about how she is allowed to voice complicated feelings about U.S. involvement there.
The article closes by positioning Gen Z’s reluctance toward patriotism as understandable in a political and cultural climate the author describes as shaped by Trumpism and the fight for equity and justice. It argues that the country cannot simply overcome that moment without finding reasons to like the place people call home—without accepting the idea that patriotism must be unconditional or purely nationalistic.
Gen Z, the piece says, isn’t wrong for feeling unpatriotic right now. But if the goal is to “strive toward equity and justice. ” it says the path forward runs through finding something worth saving—not by surrendering complexity. but by demanding a better version of the promise Americans are supposed to share.
Gen Z patriotism U.S. economy trust in government Pew Research Center Deseret News Hinckley Institute YouGov poll 1619 Project Supreme Court overturn Roe v. Wade free press