The article analyses Juozas Girnius' concept of the people and national loyalty from the point of view of philosophy. The author seeks to more precisely determine what Girnius says, and see how convincing his arguments are. The destiny of emigrants has coloured Girnius' philosophy. When writing about national loyalty, he is largely considering the requirements of loyalty when it comes to Lithuanians that do not live in Lithuania. Girnius sees a nation as natural community, a combination of objective and subjective elements. The philosopher attaches more importance to the objective qualities and factors of the nation. The third characteristic of the nation is the will. The will of the nation manifests itself through an attempt to decide its destiny, i.e. through political activity. Girnius places a lot of importance on the normative element, the nation as a task and a calling. He appreciates the national states as they liberate the creative potential of small nations. Girnius sees culture as a set of features that form the basis of a group of people or ethnic communities. The philosopher pays a lot of attention to the expressions and requirements of national loyalty. The article discusses what is loyalty? Girnius emphasizes that the nation needs to be loved and to be loyal, as it is ours; nation is a bearer and a creator of values. And he thinks that national loyalty is a duty. This is a controversial opinion, which is discussed at a greater length in this work. It asks: How can the bias against ones country be justified? What about the support from our own people? It also analyses the dilemma of duty and the right of self-determinatio
