America’s 250th: How long has the US used the phrases ‘In God We Trust’ and ‘Under God’?
PolitiFact – Rulings and Stories — 2026-05-18 16:54:00 — www.politifact.com
House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., led thousands of people on the National Mall in prayer as part of a religious event for the nation’s 250th anniversary. Johnson asked God to “hear these solemn petitions, just as we in the beginning dedicated this land to your most holy name today. Here Lord, in this 250th year of American Independence, we hereby rededicate the United States of America as ‘One Nation, Under God.’”
The May 17 “Rededicate 250” jubilee in Washington, D.C., also featured Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C., and video remarks by President Donald Trump, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. In an interview from the mall, Fox News’ Shannon Bream asked Johnson about criticism that a religious event was hosted on federal land and partially paid for by taxpayer dollars. Johnson said the event was “a recognition of the deeply embedded history and religious and moral tradition of the country” and that the event’s critics “want to erase the history of America and pretend as if we’re not a nation that was dedicated originally to God.”
Johnson then referenced an inscription in the House chamber of the U.S. Capitol. “If you walk into the House chamber this afternoon with me, Shannon, you will see ‘In God We Trust’ inscribed in the marble right above the head of where I stand as the speaker of the House,” Johnson said. “Congress put that there as a recognition of who we are. We are one nation under God, and to come here and gather for a happy, hopeful celebration to rededicate ourselves in that way as one nation under God is a healthy and appropriate thing.”
The religious orientations of the United States’ founding generation have been a contentious academic subject for generations, and scholars have found mixed evidence about the role of religion and Christianity in the nation’s founding. The First Amendment’s guarantee of freedom of religion has prompted a long-running legal battle over how much the federal government can interact with religion.
Two of the phrases Johnson used in his remarks about the 250th event — “One Nation, Under God” and “In God We Trust” — are sometimes assumed to date to the founding period, but their widespread usage has modern roots. Both gained official status in the Pledge of Allegiance, on U.S. currency, and as the official U.S. motto in the 1950s. The impetus, historians say, came from the stark ideological battle lines of the Cold War against the officially God-less Soviet Union.
Source: https://www.politifact.com/article/2026/may/18/religion-pledge-allegiance-currency-250th/