For the majority of mainstream 'white' Australians, nationalism meant devotion to Empire as well as country – taking pride in their country was bound up in being part of the great British Empire. The loyalty many 'white' Australians felt for the British Empire is expressed in this poem on the Boer War.

Focus questions
NaQ5 What is meant by 'the red, white, and blue' to which Australian men have shown their loyalty?
NaQ6 Who are 'Britons across the wide sea'?
NaQ7 This poem says that Britons across the sea link the Empire with Love's chains. What do you think 'Love's chains' means in this context?

BRITANNIA! BLEST LAND OF THE FREE

Australia, of men few but true
Has never had wars of its own;
Yet now for the red, white, and blue
Their loyalty plainly have shown …

Britannia! Blest land of the free,
May freedom for ever be thine;
While Britons across the wide sea,
Thy Empire with Love's chains entwine.

The eighth and the final verses from 'Britannia! Blest Land of the Free!' by John Taylor of Longreach, Progress, Brisbane, 13 January 1900, cited in Raymond Evans et al., 1901 Our Future's Past, Macmillan, Sydney, 1997, p. 229.