POLITICO Poll finds patriotism messaging increasingly linked to right-wing parties across the West

A POLITICO Poll released July 5, 2026 reports that, across several countries in the West, voters increasingly associate language and symbols of “patriotism” with right-leaning political parties. The findings appear to reflect how political debates over immigration and national identity have become intertwined with national symbols, flags, and national celebrations in everyday political conversation, according to the survey described by POLITICO.

The poll coverage frames “patriotism” not only as a set of cultural attitudes, but also as a political identity voters connect to particular parties and their messaging. POLITICO says the survey results show that national-identity cues and patriotic symbols are being adopted and emphasized by parties on the political right, and that respondents’ interpretation of patriotism often overlaps with those parties’ broader positions.

POLITICO’s report links this pattern to a strategy in which right-wing groups center national identity while tying it to opposition to immigration, presenting patriotic identity as something that must be protected or defended from outside influences. The poll description indicates that immigration is one of the themes that helps respondents connect patriotic language to right-of-center politics, rather than treating it as a purely ceremonial or civic concept.

The POLITICO Poll coverage also places the findings in a broader transatlantic context, describing patriotism as a language that moves easily across elections and governments and can be used to report belonging, cultural continuity, and national sovereignty. In that framing, parties that emphasize border control and restrictions on immigration can benefit from associating their political platform with widely understood patriotic symbols and rituals.

In the United States, the poll discussion notes that the patriotic themes frequently appear alongside political messaging associated with Trump and other U.S. figures, according to the way POLITICO describes voter associations. The story’s emphasis is on how voters’ beliefs about national identity and immigration shape what they think “patriotism” means in practice.

Across Europe, POLITICO describes similar linkages between patriotic framing and right-wing political movements, suggesting that the pattern is not limited to one country. The poll is presented as international in scope, with POLITICO arguing that the right’s use of patriotic language and symbols has become a recognizable feature of the political landscape across the West.

The POLITICO report does not, in the information provided here, specify the poll’s methodology, sample sizes, or the exact country-by-country figures, nor does it list the precise survey questions used to measure respondents’ associations. As a result, the reported takeaway is limited to the overall relationship POLITICO highlights between patriotic symbolism, national-identity messaging, and right-wing parties, with immigration emerging as a key theme in how respondents connect the ideas.

POLITICO’s polling write-up comes at a time when immigration and national identity are central issues in multiple parliamentary and electoral systems. The survey described July 5 suggests campaign messaging that centers borders and immigration restrictions may be resonating with voters through a patriotic vocabulary, potentially affecting how political parties compete for legitimacy over national narratives and cultural identity in the countries where the poll was conducted.