How is patriotism viewed in your country?

36 comments

1. What patriotism really means seems to vary a lot from person to person. Having a sense of civil duty and actively participating in a democracy to improve the country could be described as “patriotic” and I think that applies to many Germans. However the only people who call *themselves* patriotic in Germany are those on the far-right.

   Generally acting overly nationalistic, like displaying German flags outside of football season, is frowned upon by many people. However you’ll still find that many people deep down believe that the “German way” is best. Regionalism is also huge, in many areas you’ll find people being proud of their regional heritage and displaying regional flags. EU patriotism is also a thing to some extent. In my area the order of frequency for flags in peoples’ gardens is probably region flag > flag of Europe > German flag.

2. Patriotism and Germany, mmh, difficult question.

   Do I have a German flag, no, but one of my hometown Frankfurt. Did I volunteer for the Bundeswehr and also proudly take my oath and serve there, yes. Do I still know the oath by heart, yes.

   “I swear to serve the Federal Republic of Germany faithfully and to defend the law and the freedom of the German people bravely, so help me God.” You can also leave out the reference to God, which is what I did.

   Do I like living in Germany, yes. But I have a Danish girlfriend, so if it comes up, I would also live with her in Denmark.
   Is Germany the best country in the world for me, no.

   You will rarely see German flags here, outside of sporting events, handball, football, etc., and if you do, I’d put you on the conservative side. But there are some Germans who have a flag of their state or hometown.

   Let’s call it an unexcited relationship to Germany among many Germans. But that’s also a question of generation, where you come from and so on, I don’t want to generalise my experiences.

3. I think it’s a weird thing in Britain.

   A lot of people feel patriotic about the impact our country has had on the global which is quite frankly indisputable – this can be everything from our language, to the Anglosphere nations (USA, Australia, Canada, NZ) and also the list of achievements the UK is known for (WW2, Manhattan project, industrial revolution, all the inventions, multiple world-known artists, films, actors, etc).

   I do think there’s a bit of a weird streak in British Patriotism which crosses into nationalism. A lot of people don’t seem to understand concept of geopolitics and just see us as a ‘weakened’ nation who should aim to achieve its global power again (although, I don’t think the understand how the global power was achieved in the first place). Similarly, theres a certain ignorance about things just being better in the UK. A lot of people seem to think the UK is just much more advanced (this is mostly the older generation) than other powers like Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Japan in terms of healthcare, schooling, infrastructure, etc.

4. In Ireland if you call yourself a patriot you’d get weird looks. From what I can tell people seem to associate the word patriot with fringe right wingers.

   Over here the term nationalist is far more common and has alot more history (both negative and positive) and if you’re meeting someone who really loves Ireland and or wants to reunify it they’d term themselves nationalists

5. Like some politicians put it “There are no Belgians” There are Flemishmen and Walloons.
   the only patriotism you’ll see is around the Euro soccer match things.

6. Im from Spain and patriotism is difficult.

   Showing patriotism here is mostly tied with Franco (dictatorship after the civil war) and military. So its not taboo but not a topic people will dicuss.

   Do people in Spain love their country, yes. But barely anyone here has a flag. There was a political movement during Catalan’s 1000th independence 4 years ago(?), and basically everyone and their grandmother displayed a flag in thei windows, balconies, terrace, etc. After a few month/years people stopped displaying their flags because it actually started reminding us of a dictatorship a little bit.

   I mean lets be real, the only countries today that have flag in every INCH/CENTIMETER/CORNER of the nation are either the U.S or a country under a dictatorship. I mean just look at North Korea or Germany during WW2, FLAGS everywhere.

   Obviously in the U.S because you are an ally its “all good”, but the methods of the U.S are also pretty tied to a dictatorship. You have flags in every corner, highschools pledge their alligance to the flag at 12:00 (not a single European country does this btw), and you sing the national anthem in every sporting event to remind yourself the greatness of your nation (just like North Korea does whenever something happens).

   So, its a difficult topic. Is patriotism good, yes. Is too much patriotism bad? MOST DEFINITELY. I mean… Look what Trump did Last year on January 6th… That is the power of patriotism in the wrong hands. That is why Europe is careful about it, because we lived it. We not us now, but previous generations.

7. It depends. In Scotland, “let’s be proud of our achievements” patriotism is encouraged and liked. Lots of people have the opinion that we aren’t the most confident bunch, and we should work to improve that. It’s not considered to be a big deal if someone doesn’t show much patriotism though. I think pretty much everyone here enjoys the little things like calling New Years “Hogmanay” and celebrating Rabby Burns Day.

   Now, the kind of “patriotism” associated with politics is considered to be annoying and a slippery slope. With all the Brexit stuff and the Independence debate that’s been happening for years, people are just sick of hearing about it. As an Independence supporter, I am honestly not very patriotic when it comes to Britain, but someone against Independence is more likely to be proudly British. I am proud to be Scottish, but would try to express that without people assuming I’m a nationalist stereotype.

   I’m from Glasgow, and I think (because it’s the most populous city) people here have a tendency to focus on our sectarian rivalry and kind of forget about the other places. Hehe. We stereotype each other a lot (Glasgow = “violent”, Edinburgh = “posh pricks/toffs”, Rural areas = “sheep shaggers” etc), but it’s not meant to be taken seriously.

8. People here generally think the exhibitionist patriotism in America is silly and ridiculous and so do I.

   The people who are really into nationalism here are SPD party members, a far-right political party.

   That’s not to say there isn’t a time and place for it. It’s just not a part of most people’s daily lives.

9. Hungary is quite polarised on this question.

   The so-called political left is immediately scared if they hear anything that is slightly patriotic. They condemn it as nationalism and/or fascism. For them, a US-like nationalism would be certainly fascism. This can be extreme: some would even refuse to visit a soccer game.

   The so-called political right thrives in the look and language of nationalism. But mostly, these are either just words, or self-isolating deeds, like it triggers hatred towards random visitors. Or like Orbán right now: he rather just try to sell himself with nationalistic slogans, while arguably acting against the interests if the nation.

   Our history is very convoluted with varying degrees patriotism: national literature (some brilliant some beeh), oppression of Hungary by other states, opposition of Hungarians in other countries, oppression minorities in Hungary, anationalistic governments, fascist government etc.

   TLDR: We are still digesting the recent history. A wide range if opionions circulate in the society, or even in each single person (like in my head).

10. So, patriotism in Italy, that of the 21st century, I would define as more of a satisfaction (more or less conscious) of being Italian, generally shunning myths and legends of history, but more of a satisfaction with things like art, culture and success in various fields (such as sport). This is something that has come back into vogue recently (in past decades it was not such a thing) and has generally spread to different age groups. It is an attachment more to the Italian community than to the state, seen as distant and bureaucratic. It is a sentiment that is not without contradictions: the average Italian unconsciously feels a certain ‘satisfaction’ for his country even though he often considers it backward in relation to Europe and the world. In this respect, although Italians are fairly self-critical, they are very sensitive to criticism from outside. In any case, it is common to see, on any street in Italy, at least one flag hanging from a window, and sometimes more than one.

    As for local identities, Italy is culturally very fragmented, and regional identity is often very strong, sometimes even more so than national identity.

11. It’s difficult, especially since there is a grey area between patriotism and nationalism that lot of people just don’t acknowledge. Thus having a national flag in your house or your garden would be saw as a displaying of far right opinions even if it’s just the flag of’your very own country. Regional flags are way more accepted, I have a huge Britanny’s flag in the bedroom of my student campus and no one care.

    However far right and traditional right are strong in France, for the ongoing election they have at least 45% of votes intentions if you merge all their candidates together, so I would say patriotism is real but the actual displaying of it is pretty much limited. And nationalism is low, there is no territorial claims or warmongerism going on, and we don’t have a manifest destiny ideology or stuff like that

12. With a lifted eyebrow. It is possible to be a more fond of Denmark than your averege Dane, and still be a perfectly normal person with no issues. But it can also be a slippery slope to or a euphemism for more extreme views. That lifted eyebrow and suspicion is often directed at “patriotic” parties such as Dansk Folkeparti or Stram Kurs (more extreme, now disbanded) for their reputation of having some rather unsavoury or extreme positions. I don’t know many, who fit the first category, who openly call themselves patriots, which, while anecdotal, is an indication that it is viewed as somewhat taboo

13. Patriotism for me is working towards developing our politics and our society towards where I think it is right instead of double-crossing it. Ironically, our far rights are pretty good at stuff like tax evasion, which for me is a pretty unpatriotic thing to do. Even if you are not agreeing with what tax money is spent for, you are betraying your fellow Germans that do pay their taxes. Also they are the first to shout stuff like “Wer Deutschland nicht liebt soll Deutschland verlassen” at protests. – “Who doesn’t love Germany should leave Germany.” They are the ones that don’t love Germany. The only Germany they love has only ever existed in their minds. They hate our institutions, part of our citizens, our constitution and what it was meant to protect. They love Germany so much, they want to change it completely and keep nothing but the flag. That, to me, is not patriotism.

    Germans refraining from flying the German flag (outside of sporting events and stuff) is, especially by Americans, often interpreted as a fear of patriotism. And even if there might be sth like an overcorrection to the issue, many Germans simply don’t see the need. Yes, we could all start displaying flags and it would kinda normalise, I guess. But what’s the gain? For who to see? For telling my German neighbours “look I’m also German in Germany, paying my taxes (probably)”? From a German perspective, there is no need to do that. A flag is put up where people want to tell you something or differentiate.

14. i might have a flag upstairs for koningsdag but i dont like worship it and i only know the first line of the national anthem

15. British patriotism is something the racist unionists have definitely destroyed.

    Some people view Scottish patriotism in a negative light because apparently being proud of being Scottish = anti U.K. & anti union. I love being Scottish though. We’re a very proud nation.

16. It’s somewhat complicated.

    Finns are very fond of their country and very high proportion of Finns say that they would be willing to fight for their country. A lot of this comes from being neighbours of Russia since deep down many still feel that Russia is a threat for Finnish way of life which we want to preserve. War veterans are highly appreciated.

    On the other hand, if you publicly announce that you’re a patriot and display certain symbols like the lion from the coat of arms of Finland or wear a t-shirt [like this](https://2sj8jt43nx8s3fh0fpaz8wf7-wpengine.netdna-ssl.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/kiitos_i-1024×768.jpg) people will associate you with far-right.

17. We’re quite a patriotic bunch in a very positive way, we are insanely proud of any icelander who succeeds on the global stage, many folks will talk very proudly about how Iceland is best in something (per capita), lots of people wave the flag on holidays and take great pride in our culture and language.

    That said we arent at American level flag waving pride, the only folks ive met who can rival that in western europe are those on the Isle of Man

18. I would say largely positively although within last year more right-wing groups tried to usurp national symbols a bit (for example using historical and national flags in their protests against quarantine or opposing gay rights) thus openly showing/wearing national symbols left a bad taste for a while, but now, and especially with the war in Ukraine, those groups went silent, so we are back to normal again.

    Usually, most people are not ashamed to display patriotism in some form, given that being patriotic is still important for left and right leaning groups due to recency of regained independence.

19. I rarely ever hear anyone talk about themselves as being patriotic here in Sweden. For some reason, that word has been kinda forgotten. We haven’t been at war for over 200 years, which might have something to do with it.

    Being nationalistic is something usually frowned upon here. There’s one populist nationalist party here and until recently they were considered total pariah by all other parties, and they still aren’t really well liked even though a couple of parties on the centre-right have warmed up enough to them to at least consider limited cooperation.

    But at the same time, people do like Swedish traditions, music, food and so on. Many are proud of the accomplishments of Sweden. And there’s also a persisting view that the Swedish systems on all areas of life are the best ones, that we should try to “export” our systems and solutions to the rest of the world. And there is often a genuine surprise that not everyone else agrees that our solutions are the best ones.

    So, there’s a huge national pride, but there’s never talk about patriotism and being nationalistic is kinda frowned upon. Yeah, we’re weird.

20. In the England (only English, its fine to be proud to be Scottish or Welsh) patriotism is often considered racist, this is possible to do with far right nationalistic organisations, being proud to be english can often be thought of as being proud to be white because of these groups

21. In the Netherlands, ‘patriotism’ isn’t really a commonly-used word, the emotions associated with it are more expressed in actions, like hanging out the flag on King’s Day, May 4/5 (4 is commemoration for victims of WW2 and subsequent wars, kinda like poppy day and 5 is for celebrating liberation in 1945) or during football games where the national team is playing. People who are very overtly/excessively proud of the Dutch tricolour, have a romanticized perspective on Dutch history or harken back to ‘our national traditions’ (whatever that means, culture is flexible and complicated) tend to be more right-wing or far-right, which usually pairs with a disdain for foreigners and their cultures, especially those with Islamic backgrounds, social conservatism and a love for leaders who promise to fix everything by throwing out [insert marginalized group here].

22. Obligatory not European but thought people might be interested in what it’s like in Canada.

    I’d say very few people call themselves patriots, mainly because if the association the word has with our southern neighbors (especially the republican ones).

    Most people here would say something along the lines of I’m glad to live in Canada more acknowledging that we have it pretty good here but without the whole nationalism part where we think we are better than everyone/our way or the high way kinda stuff.

    Especially in the past decade ish Canada and Canadians have become more aware of our past mainly the treatment of our indigenous peoples, the Japanese during WW2, ETC. it’s hard to explain but there’s a sense everyone gets that they’re pretty lucky here but there isn’t much chest pounding or “Canadian exceptialism) that exist on the states

23. The UK has a lot of patriotism, but it’s heritage focused. We are a country that overachieved and stamped dominance and influence around the world, even if we were the bad-guys in a large number of instances.

    But this plays into modern patriotism. We know we conquered the world by force, underhanded tactics and were involved in endless wars. The conquering was more a prize for the elites over the masses. We never claim to be the best country and if anything spend a lot of our time focusing on all the negatives.

    There are nationalists and they are more likely to be from working class backgrounds, but I can’t really vouch for the extent of it. There was certainly enough of it to rally a lot of the euro-scepticism (that extended beyond just nationalism) that resulted in Brexit.

    However, in comparison to the US, patriotism and nationalism is completely different. In the US it’s far more overt, it’s proudly enforced in governments and events as the norm and people tend to focus on all the good stuff, even if it’s misrepresented or a little bit like a pseudo religion.

24. Pretty sure most people in Flanders feel a stronger connection to Flanders than Belgium. Walloon for me as somebody living in North Flanders might as well be another country, no different from say, Luxembourg.

    I think we have a flag we got with a crate of beer at one point and we hang it up every 2 year if our team performs good enough.

25. In Finland technically I would say it’s viewed negatively, but in reality most Finns are quite proud of their country. Just the words themselves, like patriotism or nationalism, don’t have a good connotation.

    As for Italy, I’m not sure I know of a single less patriotic population than Italians.

26. I feel like in Germany patriotism is viewed pretty badly. You don’t just have flags of Germany hang around and such.
    Basically lots of people consider patriotism as going into the direction of nationalism, which… well we’ve got some history with that.
    I think we have more the kind of patriotism of the region you life in. At least that’s kinda the case in Schleswig-Holstein, where I currently live. In Lower Saxony (where I’m originally from) on the other hand it doesn’t feel like people identify with the state that much. It’s more of a Emsland, Ostfriesland kinda thing and not the state at a hole, but in even smaller regions.

27. Patriotism is fine here in Czechia. You can have a flag and people won’t associate you with far right or something. It’s weird reading here that in other places you are seen as extremist for being patriotic..

28. Spain is for sure going to be an outlier here. Here patriotism goes hand in hand with fascism. We all love Spain, but you better not say it too loudly or people will think you’re a facha.

    It’s a long complicated history that I’m sure others can express far better than I can.

29. We are more patriotic than you think but people won’t be outspoken about it because we are afraid we are gonna sound like nationalists.

30. Except for during the World Cup or Euros you’ll never see anyone flying any Belgian flag. Belgian nationalism doesn’t really exist.

    There is Flemish nationalism, which is somewhat frowned upon but the two biggest parties in Belgium are both Flemish seperatist parties. In Wallonia I guess there might be some “Belgian nationalism” but I really barely know anything about Wallonia.

31. Wales is different to most countries, where the main “nationalist” political party/ organisations are predominantly left wing. We generally subscribe to civic-nationalism which promotes inclusively and acceptance of others (so long as they themselves are inclusive and accepting). Though the preservation of our culture and especially our language are a huge part of our identity and the main source of patriotism, along with sporting accomplishments (particularly in rugby and football). Its not uncommon to see the Welsh flag flown and people wouldn’t think twice about it, however flying an English/ UK flag may make people think you are far right.

    This is generally in direct opposition to British nationalism, which is generally right wing, xenophobic in nature and promotes Britain as superior to others.

32. The word isn’t really much used here, so I associate it with stuff like that one Mel Gibson movie, the patriot act and general trump voters. Thus it leaves a sour taste in my mouth. Don’t get me wrong, we are nationalistic, we like our country and get defensive about it and our values. I have no clue if we are more or less patriotic/nationalistic than people from other countries though.

33. Nowadays it’s villanised because of the vocal minority. Parties like UKIP, Britain First and a large portion of the Tories (our current PM most of all) have made the notion comical.

    I’m northern Irish and it’s a whole different kettle of fish here, people who are Loyalist tend to actually distance themselves from Westminster. They align more with their own styled “ulster loyalism” which is a bit more Conservative and anti-irish culture than a regular Brit would feel.

34. I think we are a strange bunch when it comes to patriotism. We are quite self deprecating about ourselves and our country but we get very upset if a foreigner says something bad about us. Even if its the exact same things we complain about.

    As for the flag, it’s rarely seen outside of a football match. It is something I find curious when a see how much Americans fly their flag.
    I wouldn’t mind seeing ours in more places.

35. Good question, I’m in Liverpool and it’s probably the least patriotic English city (known as the people’s Republic of Liverpool) Generally there’s a sense that our values don’t align with the conventional notions of Englishness and that has become more pronounced over recent times

36. Patriotism like in the US is very foreign in France, where people acting like if we lived in the worst country on Earth are common. However, a large part of the population is proud of being French because of our cultural heritage (our history, buildings, inventions, crafts, customs, gastronomy…) , but doesn’t always show it because it’s seen by some as a far-right mindset (since far-right tend to monopolize these patriotic feelings). Like having a French flag on your house can often be badly interpreted if it’s not the 14th of Jully or during a football championship