Definitions for "PATRIOTISM"
Love of country; devotion to the welfare of one's country; the virtues and actions of a patriot; the passion which inspires one to serve one's country.
loyalty to one's state
love of one's country and loyalty to it, especially in relation to other countries.
Patriotism denotes positive and supportive attitudes to a 'fatherland' (Latin patria < Greek patrida, πατρίδα), by individuals and groups. The 'fatherland' (or 'motherland') can be a region or a city, but patriotism usually applies to a nation and/or a nation-state. Patriotism covers such attitudes as: pride in its achievements and culture, the desire to preserve its character and the basis of the culture, and identification with other members of the nation.
Combustible rubbish read to the torch of any one ambitious to illuminate his name. In Dr. Johnson's famous dictionary patriotism is defined as the last resort of a scoundrel. With all due respect to an enlightened but inferior lexicographer I beg to submit that it is the first.
During the war years and in the difficult times of Austerity afterwards, British people demonstrated their patriotic feelings by supporting Britain in a practical manner. The campaign to 'Make Do And Mend', and even the styling of clothes in a 'military' manner with no frills and adornment, was regarded as a patriotic contribution.
a pervasive phenomenon with which all of us are personally familiar