Clashes surrounding the allowance or prohibition of iconoclasm reveal how public law addresses diverse cultural beliefs. Discussions concerning confederate monuments in the United States and the continuing existence of Fascist monuments in Italy have shed light on the different values societies ascribe to the iconology of certain cultural heritage. States’ decisions to own or control certain cultural property as part of their ‘national patrimony‘ and States‘ decisions to allow or prohibit the expressions of certain beliefs associated with certain cultural property may or may not be seen as a tool with which they construct national identity. This panel, through an interdisciplinary methodology, analyzes the role which adoption or denial of iconoclasm within the sphere of cultural heritage plays in fostering or threatening social cohesion and national identity.