From Military Anthem to Safeguarding Democracy: ‘Save Your Own Country’ and the Transformation of Sovereignty and Nationalism in Taiwan

ABSTRACT This article examines how Taiwan's contested sovereignty is performed and articulated through the evolving meanings of the popular slogan ‘Save Your Own Country’ (SYOC). Originating as a military anthem under the Kuomintang's (KMT) authoritarian rule, the meaning of SYOC has transformed over half a century and has been used as a flexible symbol in Taiwanese politics. Through historical and discursive analysis, we trace the slogan's trajectory across four periods—the Military Propaganda Era (1971–1986), Democratization Era (1987–2011), the Sunflower Movement Era (2012–2019) and Anti‐Invasion Era (2019–present)—to reveal how its uses reflect shifts in Taiwan's political order and the affective meanings of sovereignty. We argue that Taiwan's sovereignty is best understood not as a fixed legal status, but as a performative and affective process enacted by actors across diverse political ideologies and national imaginings. The ambiguous reference of ‘your own country’ enables SYOC to bridge ideological divisions, turning ambiguity into a resource for democratic cohesion. Taiwan's case demonstrates that contested sovereignty and ambiguity in national expressions are not weaknesses but strengths of the country's democratic resilience and plural sense of national belonging.