Washington, Jun 16 (IANS): The sense of national pride in the US has continued its downward trajectory, reaching the lowest point in two decades, according to a new poll.

A majority of adults, 63 per cent, still said that they were either "extremely" or "very" proud to be an American, Xinhua news agency quoted the Gallup poll as saying on Monday.

However, that's a 7-point dip from last year and the lowest figure recorded in the 20 years since Gallup first started asking the question.

The new low came at a time when the US is facing public health and economic crises brought on by the coronavirus pandemic and civil unrest following the May 25 death of George Floyd, an unarmed 46-year-old African-American, in police custody.

In the poll, 42 per cent said they're "extremely" proud and 21 pe rcent said "very" proud.

Fifteen per cent said they were "modestly" proud, 12 per cent "only a little proud" and 9 per cent "not proud at all".

These latest data are from a May 28-June 4 poll, which also found that 20 per cent of Americans were satisfied with the way things are going in the country.

The percentage of Americans expressing extreme pride in the country has been declining over the past 20 years, especially recently, Gallup said.

Just over half, 55 per cent, felt extreme pride in the initial January 2001 reading, prior to the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

In the three subsequent years, between 65 per cent and 70 per cent were extremely proud as the public rallied around the flag.

By 2005, that reading fell to 61 per cent and remained steady until 2015 when it dropped to 54 per cent.

The current reading is the sixth consecutive year since then that it has fallen to a new low in Gallup's trend.