Nation and its symbols

What does patriotism mean , y does the concept of a nation mean so much to any individual on the planet??

concept of a nation state probably started on greece but we in India or China in these parts of Asia have had also our concepts built up if not anything by alexander's invasion .How important is symbolism to this. If you look at any sporting activity the national events r the best of the lot. People can no more war and they let sport do the talking or talk heavily while being involved in sports.Jingoistic or not , u see flag waving , u see coloured faces,u see caps and t-shirts and ofcourse you national animals .

symbolism and patriotism go hand in hand.

But can an individual be patriotic and not be so symbolic about it.

America is one of the best marketed concepts in the world.T-shirts , Uncle Sam, Mcdonald's Coke are all American symbols.You would find maximum Indian brands also carryin the 51 stars.It is indeed verycool to be American and most countries patronise the stars and the symbols.

So does it mean the American's are patriotic. Are Americans patriotic bcoz the nation is the best . By that i mean America gets the best manpower in all the fields from usually the rest of the world. And country is great if its pplare great.So now what makes Americans more patriotic.

We in India had to fight for the right to display the Indian flag as a part of our attire. We are one of the largest natiosn with huge number of permanent immigrations happening.Patriotism develops when as we see a Kagil war , or a cricket match, maybe with the Sania fervour a tennis match too.But we dont stand up for the anthem,, we are waitin to go abroad and have a better life.Though the last thing has changed with the advent of the big business in India somewhere we r not so sure about the nation.We r patriotic maybe but def not symbolic, We are also more divisonal internally, with caste language and religion also making our identities.Is this the cause for less patriotism.

Or we now gettin to blv in a global world and cannot think of ourselves as a single nation.

for a colleague here it was great to hear the anthem being played at the asian games when paes and bhupathi won the title.So is this a third idea, patriotism and concept of a nation is more developed , when i am abroad .While i am internally in a nation these are more trivial issues while my bread and butter amtter .Abroad the difference in culture means you 'd luv to be around Indians as you understand them best being a part of it.

I am still not sure what nationhood is, is it the culture which bonds ppl of a particualr region and alienates others, is it similarities in habits and culture which create a nation or is it just a concept found agreable by a vast majority and are therfore happy in that comfort and belief .Germany for a long time could not assert itself as a nation after the two world wars bcoz it was afraid of jingoism and hurt by excessive nationalism shown by its past till a world cup of football held ther.

Well i am not sure kaikoo this is so important but it gives evryone an identity to live with, something good to look upto and while it is a mental concept it is definitely a brand which agets aggressively marketed based on vested interests of individuals!!!!