Someone at Panhistoria posted in their blog the following quotation by G.K. Chesterton: "My country, right or wrong, is a thing that no true patriot would think of saying.... it is like saying, 'My mother, drunk or sober'." And it got me wondering, is criticizing one's country being unpatriotic?

In England 'patriotism' has been a dirty word for most of my lifetime and probably even beyond that - talking to a German friend recently, he said the same thing is true in his country. To we European countries with a long history of colonialism and oppression, 'patriotism' is something we can't feel or express without its baggage of guilt. It's all too often automatically equated with 'racism', and as my friend sadly explained, in Germany it still carries the taint of Nazism. As ex-Imperialists, we cannot be patriots, except during the World Cup or Euro 2008. Patriotism and nationalism are something left for those nations, like America and Australia, who have shaken off the colonial yoke and won freedom for their countries. English nationalism is - according to our ex-Home Secretary David Blunkett - an incorrigibly primitive beast: "festering, resentful" and best kept carefully locked up in its cave.

But, criticising or ridiculing our rulers has a long tradition in England, and while some (any?) Americans might think its 'unpatriotic' to criticise the great and glorious Dubya or question the social, economic, religious and political implications of being American, here it would be postively de rigeur to have a stoic grumble about our lot in the world. That's what the English do - we're not so good at direct action like the French, but we are wonderful grousers.

My esteemed countryman Mr Chesterton was of course a very astute social critic, satirist, and opponent of British imperialism, and even now his name is often invoked by politicians addressing questions of English identity. It is only a shame he equated English freedom with beer...