Later, when the war in Iraq began to heat up, many of its supporters upgraded to even bigger flags, while others who opposed the conflict traded theirs for antiwar signs.

Members of both sides describe themselves as patriots. But what exactly is patriotism, anyway?

The dictionary defines it as pride in one's country, an intense love of her, a zealous devotion to her interests. But how many hours a day do any of us spend actively loving our country--and how do we express that love, anyway?

Waving the flag

The most familiar patriotic activity is probably flying or displaying the American flag. And that makes a certain sense. Patriotism and flags are certainly related, through their second cousin--war.

Flags started out as banners held aloft on crowded battlefields by war chiefs (or their aides) to let the common soldiers know where their leader was. The flags showed the soldiers that he was still alive and inspired them to keep fighting.

Even today patriotism tends to surge when the country is in a war or on the verge of fighting one. It has a definite function at such times: to build national strength through solidarity, especially in the face of a common enemy.

Every group, from street-corner gang to nation-state, knows the worth of unified resolve against outside threats. If a bully attacks you and your buddies, you set aside your differences and stand as one; that's a given.

If the bullies single you out for harassment, you expect your buddies to jump in and help you. If your buddies say, "We're not going to side with you blindly, we need more facts, maybe these bullies have a point," you're apt to feel betrayed. You may well feel that true friends help first and ask questions later.

And patriotism, I think, is that normal human sentiment writ large. "I love my country" is a way of saying, "Every American in trouble is my buddy." Flying a flag makes the statement, "Count me in, I'm part of the one big group, and woe to anyone who attacks us." Flags build patriotic unity by making visible our bigness and our oneness.

America's big ideas

But embracing anything blindly always carries risks. The urge to marshal unity can slide into unquestioning obedience: my country right or wrong. Teddy Roosevelt once said, "Patriotism means to stand by the country. It does not mean to stand by the President or any other public official save exactly to the degree in which he himself stands by the country."

That's where the concept of patriotism gets tricky in a democracy, especially in the United States. Loyalty to this country can't mean loyalty to any particular ethnic, cultural, or political group, and it must go beyond "soil." At its core the United States is not just a patch of land or a group of people, but a set of ideas.

Which ideas?

My list includes at least these four--perhaps you have more:

• The rule of law--no one is subject to anyone else's arbitrary whim. Instead, everyone must abide by the same uniform set of publicly posted rules.
• Democracy--people get to have a real say in making those rules and in choosing their own leaders.
• Freedom--people have the right to pursue their own lives however they see fit, so long as they don't hurt others.
• Inclusion--the benefits of freedom, democracy, and the rule of law belong to all American citizens, regardless of how they look, what they believe, or any other arbitrary criteria.

Too many backseat drivers?

Taken seriously, these core principles imply certain duties. The duty to vote, for example. It's not just that we get to vote. If this country belongs to us citizens, none of us is exempt from a responsibility to help run it. Forming opinions and expressing them is not just a right but an obligation.

But wait! Can any nation function with a hundred million backseat drivers telling the leaders how to drive and where to go? Won't that sort of anarchic clamor weaken our unity and erode our resolve? Aren't some rights--to dissent, to demonstrate, to organize political opposition, for example--luxuries we can't afford in times of crisis? Shouldn't we put those bon bons on a shelf to enjoy later, after we've secured an impregnable peace?

Such arguments, I think, mistakenly view our core American freedoms as sources of weakness. History has other lessons on that score. Consider, for example, the case of the ancient Roman Republic and its notoriously contentious government. If strength comes from lockstep efficiency, how did Rome survive for so long?

http://encarta.msn.com/column/PatriotismMain.asp