Mapping National Identity: Public Attitudes in the United Kingdom and Australia

National identity has become a central fault line in political conflict in established democracies, shaping debates over migration, belonging, and the meaning of citizenship. Yet we still know comparatively little about whether identity components in public opinion hang together in consistent patterns, and whether the drivers of these views travel across similar liberal democracies. This paper compares public conceptions of national identity in the United Kingdom and Australia, focusing on three linked outcomes: what respondents believe it means to be truly British or Australian, attitudes towards migration, and national pride. The analysis of nationally representative surveys focuses on who endorses more inclusive versus more exclusionary understandings of national belonging, and how these views relate to migration attitudes and pride. The paper contributes to comparative research on national identity by moving beyond single-item measures and treating identity as a structured configuration of beliefs. Substantively, it clarifies the extent to which identity politics is organised similarly in Britain and Australia and identifies the social, political, and informational factors that underpin different identity profiles.