46. What is patriotism? 

There is an example of this in the ‘Oath of Allegiance’ that one takes while immigrating to the United States of America or is directly applied if they are born there. The oath reads:

I hereby declare, on oath, that I absolutely and entirely renounce and abjure all allegiance and fidelity to any foreign prince, potentate, state, or sovereignty, of whom or which I have heretofore been a subject or citizen; that I will support and defend the Constitution and laws of the United States of America against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I will bear arms on behalf of the United States when required by the law; that I will perform non-combatant service in the Armed Forces of the United States when required by the law; that I will perform work of national importance under civilian direction when required by the law; and that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; so help me God.

This oath primarily implies that the nation requires from its citizens to support the constitution, renounce allegiance to any foreign power, defend the country and its laws from all domestic and foreign enemies and participate in the armed forces when needed by the nation.

This, according to me, aptly summarizes what allegiance and patriotism towards a nation should be. For instance, if your country recognizes Israel as a country, then out of allegiance towards your nation you also have to recognize Israel as a country. Otherwise, your allegiance will be with those nations who do not recognize Israel, which will constitute a breach of trust between you and your nation. No nation will ever tolerate this breach of trust.