Meanings
- an expression of patriotism.
Origin
Originally Stephen Decatur, in an after-dinner toast of 1816–1820: : “Our Country! In her intercourse with foreign nations may she always be in the right; but right or wrong, our country!” Often attributed to Carl Schurz, who in a speech in 1872 amended it as : “My country, right or wrong; if right, to be kept right; and if wrong, to be set right.”
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
my country, right or wrong. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/my%20country%2C%20right%20or%20wrong
“my country, right or wrong.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/my%20country%2C%20right%20or%20wrong. Accessed November 5, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “my country, right or wrong,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/my%20country%2C%20right%20or%20wrong.
Source: my country, right or wrong on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.