Sweden 500 – a year of celebration!

This year marks 500 years since Gustav Vasa was elected king. The election laid the foundation of Sweden as an independent state. Celebrate the anniversary with us! With a foundation in history, let’s tell a story about Sweden today – from groundbreaking innovations and research to a stable democratic social system and a culture that includes everything from a deep-rooted fika tradition to world-class music exports. 

This year’s celebration includes the Swedish National day and the jubilees of several Swedish sights and institutions. New material will be published continuously throughout the year. The first batch of material is now available. Keep an eye on our newsletter for updates!

Building blocks

The toolkit is co-produced with the official Sweden channels. The material consists of mostly digital components. Most of the material can be used as is, but videos and posts may need to be translated.

Sweden 500 sign

The Sweden 500 jubilee sign is available as animation and in still format. It can be used for printing, digital units, social media, merchandise, projections etc.

User guide and inspiration (pdf)
Sweden 500 sign (eps, png, giphy and mp4)
Swedense at giphy.com

View over green fields with the text 500 and a Swedish flad in the middle

Videos

Here, you will find videos to communicate the Sweden 500 jubilee. The videos are available with subtitles in English and some in Arabic and Russian. We also offer clean versions with srt files for translation. New videos will be published continuously.

Why we celebrate – with and without subtitles + copy (mp4, srt and Word)
This video is available with English , Russian and Arabic text.

National Day teaser (mp4 and word file)

The best thing about Sweden – English version (mp4, srt and Word)
The best thing about Sweden – Arabic version (mp4 and srt)

Sweden from above – long version and version for social media (mp4)

“Did you know that…”
Sweden’s true grit – with and without subtitles + copy (mp4, srt and Word)
Mister Mussel – with and without subtitles + copy (mp4, srt and Word)
Beyond microscopic! – with and without subtitles + copy (mp4, srt and Word)
Restaurang Spill – with and without subtitles + copy (mp4 and srt)

Recipe videos with the Sweden 500 sign
Chokladbollar – with and without subtitles + copy (mp4, srt and Word)
Grilled vegetables – with and without subtitles + copy (mp4, srt and Word)
Vegan meatballs – with and without subtitles + copy (mp4, srt and Word)
Vegan toast skagen – with and without subtitles + copy (mp4, srt and Word)

Social media

Use the hashtags #CelebratewithSweden #Sweden500 when publishing material connected to the jubilee.

AR filter
The Sweden 500 AR filter is available on Instagram. You can find it in the AR function on “Swedense” Instagram profile.

QR codes with a direct link to the filter with and without text on Instagram
(jpg for digital use or printing)

different images of how you can use the filter

Quiz
Test your follower’s knowledge of Sweden with this social media quiz. Or use the questions and create an analogue quiz. You can use the Canva links in the Word file to translate the quiz images to your local language.

Quiz images with English text and Canva-links for local language adaption (png and Word files in English)
Quiz images with Arabic text (png and Word file in Arabic)
Quiz images with Russian text (png and Word file in Russian)
Quiz images without text (png and Word files in English)

AI images of Gustav Vasa
What if Gustav Vasa travelled 500 years into the future? We used AI tools to generate copy and images. The posts are available in English and Russian. Use the clean version of the images to translate them to your local language.

Gustav Vasa posts and copy for translation (png)

AI images of Gustav Vasa engaged in various activities.

Images generated by AI.

“When I hear of XX I think of…”
Invite your followers to share their thoughts on common Swedish phenomena.

Posts (png)

Historical posts
Gripsholm castle (download Word file with link to Image bank Sweden)
Strängnäs (download Word file with link to Image bank Sweden)
Sweden national day (download Word file with link to Image bank Sweden)

Sweden on Spotify

Listen to 500 minutes of songs by Swedish artists that encapsulates the festive mood of the Sweden 500 jubilee.

The playlist “Celebrate with Sweden” on Spotify

The Sweden Spotify profile also offers about 30 playlists on various themes, from “Swedish Eurovision winners” to “Swedish summer classics” and “Mega hits produced by Swedes”. The “Sing-Along Favorites” playlist is perfect for the karaoke party! Open the Spotify app on your phone or screen and sing along to the lyrics. Spread the word and enjoy!

The Sweden Spotify profile

Article

Learn more about Sweden’s history from 1523 to today! The article explores milestones in Sweden’s route to becoming a centralised democracy, featuring everything from royals and opera to rollercoasters and the Nobel Prize Banquet. Use the article as a base when producing your own material or link to the article from your social media.

The article in English
The article in Arabic
The article in Russian

Images

The Sweden 500 collection at Image Bank Sweden
Images of the Sweden 500 balloons for social media (jpg)
Images that are free to use from Nationalmuseum

Invitation card

Use the Sweden 500 invitation card template when inviting your community and guests to celebrate the jubilee. The cards are available in two different formats that are suitable for printing and digital use.

Invitation card in landscape and portrait format (Power Point)

The Sweden Sans typeface is used in the invitation card. If you don’t have the fonts on your computer you can download the typeface from Identity Sweden.

The Sweden Sans typeface on Identity Sweden

Financial support

Swedish embassies and consulates may apply for financial support of maximum 5,000 SEK for translation to the local language, subtitling and printing. Limits may apply.

How to apply

To apply, please fill out the application form

How to report

After completed event, please fill out the short project report

Contact at the Swedish Institute

Don’t hesitate to get in touch and help us make this into a great celebration! For more information, please contact sharingsweden@si.se.