The link between Portuguese tile decorations and the notion of identity(ies) is rooted today in a very wide context, leading to the extensive use of azulejos as cultural and narrative symbols with very different aims. The purpose of the present article is go back in time, to the mid 19th century, and to debate the role played by European historiography in the emergence of the azulejo as an “identitarian” art form, considering its unique characteristics and the main moments and agents that have contributed to the creation and consolidation of this phenomenon.