If you live in a place you learn to enjoy aspects of it, become proud of it’s institutions and history, feel fondness for it’s architecture and landscapes, love the sense of place and of belonging to it’s people. It's perfectly possible to experience all of that, and simultaneously not enjoy other aspects, not feel proud of what your country has done in the past or the present, not like the way institutions are run, not love everything. To be critical, as well as appreciative, shows you care about your countries future. A healthy sense of pride is founded on that. It’s not unpatriotic to say - we could be better.
You might call yourself patriotic, but that can turn pride into an orthodox set of beliefs, slogans and tropes, blind to self-evident faults. Patriotism has this bastard cousin called Nationalism, where everything has to be overtly expressed, like a badge on a lapel, a declaration of allegiance to a team, group or race, turning pride into cultural superiority and hooliganism. Dressing in swags and flags, union jack underwear, St George bucket hats, luridly coloured bunting. Mistaking merchandise for 'having pride in one's country'. Making pride a parody, it’s Patriotism In Drag.
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