What does “patriotism” even mean in 2026? According to a POLITICO Poll fielded by London-based Public First, it means something different depending on a country’s politics, symbols, and history, not just its flag.

In Germany, the split is stark. Only 24 percent of Germans say the country should be proud of its history. A majority, 53 percent, say Germany should be neither proud nor ashamed. And while just 14 percent say Germany should be ashamed, 61 percent say the country has “done enough to apologize for the bad things it did in the past.” In other words: the guilt is acknowledged, but the “apology” meter is treated as a settled issue for most people. That helps explain why patriotism in Germany looks less like triumphal national pride and more like cautious positioning around nationalism.

Zoom out and you see the pattern: patriotism is not a single emotion. It is a political environment. Across the United States, the UK, Spain, Canada, and France, majorities of adults say they are proud of their country. But how that pride is expressed varies sharply because cultural flashpoints and political fights differ. The poll explicitly points to the current moment, where voters’ relationships with each other, their political parties, and their countries continue shifting, while nationalist populist movements rise by claiming patriotism as their brand.

In the United States, patriotism is tied to a specific symbol: the flag. Pluralities of adults in other countries, and 49 percent of Americans, say the U.S. has the most patriotic citizens, and the survey highlights the U.S. tradition of putting national flags on lawns and outside restaurants and businesses, plus leaders wearing flag paraphernalia. Most Americans say they own a national flag, and the poll gives the key data point: 51 percent of Americans say they own the national flag, compared with just 22 percent of UK adults who say they own a Union Jack and 27 percent in France who say they own a flag. The catch is that the flag has turned partisan. More than 70 percent of Donald Trump’s 2024 voters say they own an American flag, compared with 44 percent of those who backed former Vice President Kamala Harris. Trump voters are also more likely (52 percent) than Harris voters (33 percent) to say that displaying a national flag outside your house is considered an act of patriotism. Same symbol. Different permission structure.

The poll finds that “pride in history” can also be a referendum on leaders. Most adults in the U.S., the UK, France, Spain, and Canada say their country should be proud of its history. Germany is the outlier, again tied to its Nazi past. And the leaders angle shows up most clearly in Canada. When asked what makes them most ashamed of their country, only 22 percent of Canadians pointed to their leaders, which is significantly lower than the share who cited leaders in the U.S. (40 percent), the UK (45 percent), the France (52 percent), Germany (43 percent), and Spain (50 percent). That lower blame is portrayed as part of why Canada’s outlook on government looks more positive.

Under the hood, Canada’s political mood is linked to a real political reset. The poll credits Mark Carney, described as a rookie politician, with reviving Canada’s Liberal Party and winning office in April 2025. Carney’s campaign promises included standing up to Washington while transforming the oil-rich country into an energy superpower. The poll also says Carney is popular in Western Canada, traditionally Conservative territory, “thanks to pipeline promises” and his rollback of Justin Trudeau-era climate policy. It adds a datapoint from a recent Leger poll: Carney is more popular than any other politician in Quebec. Even with the poll’s focus on pride and shame rather than policy minutiae, the message for decision-makers is clear: national identity signaling is increasingly fused to economic security, trade pressure, and who seems like they can handle external threats. The poll specifically points to Trump’s trade war and threats to turn Canada into the “51st state.”

Europe, meanwhile, offers a reminder that nationalism is not only about leaders. Spain and France show how symbols and social narratives do the heavy lifting. In Spain, 52 percent of adults pick Spain as the best place to live, while most adults in the UK and France pick other countries over their own. That “outside-in” comparison echoes in pride by nationality: 76 percent say they are proud to be Spanish, compared with 68 percent proud to be British, 71 percent proud to be French, and 60 percent proud to be German. The poll frames Spain’s pride as partly resilient because it goes beyond turbulent politics, including reckoning with the echoes of Francisco Franco’s decades-long dictatorship and tensions around competing pro-independence movements in regions like Catalonia and the Basque Country. It also cites Spain’s world-stage status via athletic success, plus its reputation as a tourism and culture hub.

France’s pride is symbol-heavy too, with the Marseillaise tied to schooling. The poll says most adults in France, 57 percent, say children should be made to sing the national anthem in school, a view that cuts across partisan lines but is most popular among the far-right National Rally (74 percent) and the centrist Ensemble party (67 percent). Meanwhile, just 42 percent of UK adults, 32 percent of German adults, and 26 percent in Spain say the same. The poll connects this to a broader culture-war dynamic: like kneeling protests in the NFL provoked outrage among American conservatives, jeering and booing during the French anthem at sporting events usually stokes controversy, with furor coming from across the political spectrum.

The UK rounds out the picture with a more pessimistic social permission structure. Ten years after Brexit initiated an effort “to take back control of the U.K.,” the POLITICO Poll suggests British attitudes toward patriotism remain somewhat pessimistic. A 46 percent plurality of adults in the UK say “you can’t say you’re proud to be British anymore without being judged,” about on par with the share who say the same in other European countries. And the poll notes similar shares across the UK, France, and Spain about pride in histories, paired with similar shares saying they are ashamed of their leaders now, including German adults. Even here, the takeaway for leaders is not subtle: in multiple democracies, patriotic expression is constrained by social sanction and party identity, not just national sentiment.

Put together, these results are a stress test for executives, boards, and anyone making public-facing decisions. When patriotism is partisan in the U.S., leader-linked in Canada, history-limited in Germany, and anthem-dependent in France, the same “national” cues can generate opposite reactions depending on local political weather. The second-order risk is that firms and institutions that misread those signals may not just offend a few people. They can be read as taking a side in a culture conflict, at a moment when nationalist populist movements keep trying to monopolize the word “patriotism.”