From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishhold your head uphold your head up (also hold your head high) to behave as if you are proud of yourself or respect yourself They may have lost the game, but I still think they’ve earned the right to hold their heads high today. → hold
Examples from the Corpus
hold your head up• As a baby she may have had a hard time holding her head up, for example.• However, Linfield can hold their heads up high.• How else could a girl hold her head up in her family?• Her own cheeks had gone pale; her lids drooped over her eyes; she held her head up in her hand.• Just holding my head up like that. 