It's such a common expression that I doubt most people analyze its meaning. I think there are a few possibilities. 1)People want to indentify with something or be identified with something that collectively is more powerful, successful or admired than they are as an individual person. 2)"I'm proud to be a certain nationality" can also mean "you can criticize my country all you want, but I will support it and I believe in it". People do have a tendency to defend their home country even though, as you say, it is their country by accident of birth. It's similar to defending your parents and siblings when they come under attack - it's a unit one belongs to, and this type of support keeps that unit cohesive. I started thinking about this phrase when my kids were younger, would bring home a good grade, and I would say, "I'm so proud of you!" My younger daughter once responded, "why are YOU proud, Mom? I'm the one who did it!" Of course I wanted to be identified with or credited for the accomplishment of my child and bask in the reflected glory! I immediately stopped using the phrase and substituted "I admire you for getting good grades", or "you must be very proud". This made it clear it was HER accomplishment, not mine. In different parts of the US I've noticed being proud has a slightly different meaning. In the Southern states, I've been told, "I'm proud to know you" when introduced to a new acquaintance. My cousin, a linguistics professor, told me in that context, "proud" means "you enrich my life because I know you."

The tendency to "herd" (to identify with a group) predates humans as a species. We're biologically predisposed to join groups; there's safety in numbers, and all that. Nationalism helps to relieve our anxiety a bit: few want to believe that they're loners, unwanted, friendless, clubless. By identifying with the symbols, traditions, and other cultural elements of a country we gain a limited sense of personal solidity. And all it costs us is our personal integrity, cognitive clarity, and spiritual growth. Not bad, eh?!

Ignorance. Every one of us is ignorant, it's just a matter of to what extent. There really is no good reason for any of us to be proud of our nationality. If we don't know any better and we are taught to be proud of it (through rewards of acceptance, nonpunishment in some cases like nazi germany, and repetition through pledges of allegiance, etc.) then we will continue to do so until we recognize the futility of it and the nonimportance of acceptance, when your life does NOT depend on it. The same ignorance is what blinds people from recognizing the futility of the monetary system. It is essentially one big ponzi, or pyramid, scheme where the rich at the top are the beneficiaries while the rest of us have to succumb to indentured servitude or rely on breaking the law or using gov't assistance to live. Once people recognize that if we eliminate all jobs related to money (stock brokers, accountants, cashiers, marketing, etc.) we have only a portion of society working towards producing goods or services necessary to survival. Technology is replacing jobs, leaving people who want a job without a job to obtain, ultimately leaving less people paying taxes and more people relying on gov't assistance or theft. The national debt has increased throughout not just our generations but our parents and there is no evidence to suggest that will reverse. But just because the vast majority of people haven't recognized this and still support the "arms" of the monetary system (banks, corporations, gov't) ignorance is not just required but built into the system.

It isn't simply being proud because you were lucky enough to be born in a certain country. At least as adults, we have the option to move if we are not proud of where we live. Saying you are proud of your nationality is a way of saying you are proud of your country. You are expressing that you feel lucky to have been born in a place you consider a good home.

I say I am 'glad','grateful', I was born an American.....and not a Russian, Swede, Guatamalean, Iraqui, etc..... children can't help where they are born.....or the culture they are born into..... I am just glad to live in a America and I was born an American....I am proud of my country and culture....as an adult American...." I'm PROUD to be an American, at least I know I'm FREE"...Lee Greenwood..:)