Are you patriotic ?

[janet0001]

Do you feel patriotic ?

I do feel patriotic and I got laughed at and basically mocked when I said it.

I was quite upset about that - AIBU?

There are many things I am proud of and things I am not so proud of

I think you realise when you travel how revered British culture is around the world

no one says much about the country my dad is from but many know about British history/culture both old and new even our odd quirks have been recognised

I once met a history teacher in Dublin on her holidays and she had absolutely no idea of the history of Northern Ireland. No idea at all whatsoever. I'm from the Republic, we grew up watching news of bombs and shootings etc in NI. I was horrified that this person was charged with teaching kids history and this stuff was left out. It's not history unless it's a full history imo, good and bad. And that goes for all of us, i hope my daughter will learn about Cervicalcheck and Vicky Phelan in time. We all have shameful parts of our history, ignoring just perpetuates the crime.

@Chickenkeev Unrelated but you've reminded me of an NI colleague who insisted Pakistan and India were the same thing. Had to explain that 'the bit at the top became a separate country to the bit underneath'! Jesus wept!

I’m happy to be a Scot but there’s no reason to be proud, it’s not an achievement on my part. Never really understood the whole flag-waving side of patriotism. You can appreciate and love the traditions of where you come from without descending into that.

Being British is an accident, not an achievement but I don't like to see the UK being run down, nor made to appear ridiculous: looking at you Boris Johnson.
I no longer have a vote in the UK, which pisses me off as I pay UK taxes, but am still keenly interested in what goes on. All but one member of my family lives in the UK.

As a dual citizen of the UK and Australia, I still feel British, unsurprising as I lived more than 50 years there before emigrating. Cricket? yes, always support England in the Ashes, and I don't even like cricket. I feel gratitude to Australia that I'm a citizen, and can't be doing with the lazy, xenophobic shite that pours out on some MN threads, so will always take it on. By contrast, I stay off threads about the UK being down the toilet as I feel my long absence means I mostly don't have anything relevant to say, though I read them - family, innit?

I think what has helped was not coming to Australia because we thought the UK was a pit or the weather was better in Oz, but had an opportunity not to be missed. No rancour or dislike of the UK, still love it, and no unrealistic expectations of Australia, and love it too (eventually)

Holy f*ck! Where do you go from there like. I suppose ignorance is universal and what not....

That was @RobertaFirmino sorry!

No. Where I was born was completely random and I'm not going to get excited or protective about a random event.

I did have some pride pre Brexit but it's all gone now and I saw how patriotism was weaponised by Vote Leave and want nothing to do with Rule Britannia nutters.

I'm English but live in Wales and feel some sense of wanting to do my bit to promote Welsh language given how repressed it was for decades (by the English) so I'm learning it myself and may send future children to Welsh medium school.

Ragingly, but I'm Welsh. I've noticed the english don't seem to feel the same patriotism on the whole as their Celtic counterparts.

For Wales, yes 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿

Depends what you mean. I'm definitely not patriotic in a mindless flag waving way. I don't try to bulster my self esteem by imagining that being British is something to be proud of or that we're the best country on earth. I will probably end up living in the UK by default for the rest of my life but if the situation arose would happily live elsewhere. I've lived abroad before and Britain definitely isn't either the best or worst country I've lived in.

Having grown up here I do have some emotional attachment to the country and would like to contribute to improving it in some way if I could.

Last refuge of a scoundrel?

Hmmm depends what you mean. I love many things about Britain- our beautiful countryside for one. I generally support GB or England in sporting events. I feel at home here.

However I’m not a flag-shagger, I don’t think we’re superior to other countries by and large, I despise Brexit.

Interesting what pp said above about English v Welsh, Scottish etc. I think it’s because the idea of English nationalism/patriotism has been hijacked by far right racists.

Hahahaha fuck no. Britain is a fucking disaster, I hate it here.

No.
I think England is a lovely country with lots of nice places. I feel in no way proud, though. We’re a country run by a shit government which has been repeatedly voted for.

If you're not happy in the UK, don't be a martyr and make yourself unhappy. There are 194 other countries you could live in. Why not try somewhere else and be happy?

Used to 100% for Scotland couldn't be more patriotic but now with the SNP they have ruined us and continue to do so.

I would consider myself patriotic, someone who is Welsh. That does not mean uncritical love or appreciation of everything about Wales or the UK as a whole.

Not remotely patriotic since 2016 when this country become the laughing stock of civilised Europe and even less so since Boris Johnson was made PM. We're an utter embarrassment and our government has trashed anything that was still good about the (not so-)United Kingdom.

The sight of the Union Flag turns me right off. I look at pictures of me dressed in red, white and blue for Jubilee / Olympics events in 2012 and can't quite believe it.

Erm, because Brexit removed my right to live in the 27 countries that I'd be most likely to move to?

You can't just up stick and move anywhere you fancy you know? They'll only give you a passport if they want you.

Nope. Being British is shit. Historically awful and presently embarrassing. I have no pride in the country I happened to be born in or the nationality I was inadvertently born into.

Not an ounce of patriotism in me at all. I would like to make the world a better place, I'd like to make Britain a better place, but realistically I'm actually just making efforts to make my local community a better place. And I would do that whatever nationality or country by local community is.

I'm proud of my family, my community, my work, my home.

I’m not proud to have had the dumb luck to be burn here.

But I also think there are good things about this country and what the bad things to improve.

*born here!

What’s the difference between being a British patriotic and British nationalist ? Genuinely would like to to know the difference?

@NewYearNora You can still move. There are loads of people living in the UK from outside the EU. And people from outside the EU move there all the time. You just have to put more effort in than before, that's all. But if you really hate it the UK, like Dolor, isn't it worth the extra effort in order to be happy?