ABSTRACT
A reinforcement of national identity for Britain’s population was achieved through the creation of a sense of cohesion and optimism that was displayed at Britain’s 1951 Festival of Britain. The very concept of Scandinavian design, an amalgamation of the modern design traditions of Sweden, Denmark, Finland, Norway and Iceland, was a strategic alliance formed for the purposes of trade and public relations outside the countries concerned. The emergence of post-war design cultures in both countries represented attempts to develop nationally specific cultural and commercial identities. The automobile industry demonstrated the growing significance of national identities in the context of global trading. Increasingly, as the twentieth century progressed, identities linked to place became determined less by inherited cultures and more by new patterns of consumption. National identity had come to be on display in the global marketplace. It was embedded in the mass media and experienced on a daily basis.
