Switzerland is a patchwork of small regions that gradually joined the confederation not because of a shared identity but because the confederation appeared to guarantee their independence. The existence of a national identity that would transcend cantonal, linguistic, and religious differences is still debated. There has been oscillation between a self-satisfied discourse about a blessed people that considers itself a model for others and a self-deprecating discourse that questions the existence of the nation: The slogan "Suiza no existe," used at the Swiss pavilion at the Seville universal fair in 1992, reflects the identity crisis Switzerland faced in 1991 when it celebrated seven hundred years of existence.
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