The U.S. 4th of July holiday is a bit of an enigma to people around the world. Clearly the holiday is intertwined with U.S. identity and the notion of U.S. “exceptionalism”, and as such the day tends to be regarded both inside and outside the U.S. as a patriotic celebration. Yet patriotism doesn’t fully capture what the day, let alone the defining attitude of the American people, is about.

I smiled as I read the recent articles in the Guardian in which the authors wistfully try to make sense of American attitudes displayed at the World Cup matches the past few weeks and in the American Independence Day celebration, lamenting that somehow British identity is decidedly different. A little bit of head scratching and soul searching can be a good thing.

Patriotism is about support for a nation, and nations are typically defined by history, their culture, and their government. Aspects of these things are manifest in the American Independence Day celebration, but these are really tangential to the core of American self-identity that is difficult for those outside the U.S. to understand, and difficult for those inside the U.S. to articulate.

What is at the core of the 4th of July holiday, or more importantly, at the core of U.S. self-identity? The answer is simple and is readily accessible, especially on this holiday.

Strictly speaking, the 4th of July commemorates the signing of the Declaration of Independence. The first few sentences of that document give the answer we are looking for:

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. — That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, — That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.

This is what is exceptional about the U.S., and this is the foundation for the whole American experience: not an historical event that led to political independence, not a common culture, or any other aspect of patriotism per-se. No, the core of the American identity and experience is a simple but revolutionary idea that individuals are created equal, and the very existence of individuals is the basis of their rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

Independence Day is not so much about independence from the British as much as it is about recognition of and commitment to these simple, self-evident truths. The “independence” is not so much political as much as it is existential in nature. American independence was neither granted nor won, but rather recognized, for American Independence is not about the nation so much as it is about the individuals that formed the nation.

These simple truths are the basis for American “exceptionalism”. It is not that American individuals view themselves intrinsically better than others, for we hold that all men are created equal. It is not that American individuals view their system of government or the historical or ongoing actions of that government as inherently superior, but rather that the government has been serving the purpose for which it was formed: the protection of the self-evident rights of individuals. It is not that Americans as individuals or as a nation are arrogant, but rather that they are self-important in the purest sense of the phrase: Individuals are important, more important than government, history, or culture. It is individuals and their rights for which the whole of U.S. government and history exists, and it is this understanding that is truly exceptional.

Yes, we’ll wave some flags and eat some hot dogs. But the patriotic display is really a symbol of something far deeper and far more precious than even the nation. We all would do to remember what this day truly commemorates.