A dictionary definition is “Showing love for your country and being proud of it”.

Here are my thoughts below.

I am British. I think most of my fellow Brits, like me, We are quietly patriotic but it does depend on the circumstances. I see it in terms of ‘Like a sleeping bear until poked’.

I think that when Britain was known for having its ‘British Empire’ we were very patriotic. Love of Queen Victoria and country. Today, however, our country does not have the same influence – our past ‘superpower’ status has gone. So our love of our country is not so obvious.

There are varying levels of patriotism in the UK. We have a noticeable increase of patriotic fervour when there is an English team playing at world level e.g. World FA Cup. Or when English representatives are winning somewhere, somehow like the Olympics. We are patriotic when our armed forces are being used elsewhere, as long as we believe it is the right action.

When we have a ‘Royal’ celebration you will see more displays of our national colours ‘blue, red white’, flag waving and our National Anthem being sung. There will be strong media coverage of the event and anything associated with the event. For example, the classic street parties (where families get together, lay out a large table in a street, put flags out and have a party).

We have a classical musical event called ‘The Proms’ which lasts 8 weeks. The final night in the Albert Hall has all attendees waving flags and singing along to the music. Some very traditional patriotic songs are played and it always ends with our National Anthem.

There are some very fervent long time supporters of the Royal Family. Some from the higher class, people whose families have owned long swathes of land and hold titles in the UK. There are also people who are great fans of the ‘Royals’ who collect royal family memorabilia and display it throughout their homes, seek to meet royal family members and queue early to get a good place for one of the major royal events.

Some groups use patriotism when showing support for causes, usually political: good and bad. The National Front organisation was/is an example of patriotism being used to promote a political cause that is not so supported nationally (e.g. racism, anti refuges etc.).

Members of our military forces are patriotic. I think the majority will have joined to fight for King/Queen and Country. Their job is the defence of our country. I think as a nation, in the past, when we saw our country threatened, we became very patriotic. We worked together, showing our country pride, love of our nation, people and way of life. How we were in World War 1 and 2.

Frankly, if there was a call to arms nationally today or conscription I am really not sure what the response would be. It would depend on the reason.