The article examines the Slovene Ethnographic Museum’s position in between two realities: the historical life of the nation and its national identity on the one hand and, on the other hand, it highlights the museum as the bearer of the symbols of national identity which can be identified and visually presented to the public by those who carry out museum activities. The article provides an analysis of this position and the practices from the initial formation of the Slovene nation and the beginnings of collecting “ethnographic” objects to the present; a possible view of the role of national identity in an ethnological museum is then presented.