Coronation of Mohammad Reza Pahlavi

At the celebration at Persepolis in 1971, the Shah had an elaborate fireworks show put on together with a sound and light show transmitted by hundreds of hidden loudspeakers and projectors intended to send a dual message; that homeland was still faithful to its ancient traditions and that homeland had transcended its past to become a modern nation, that homeland was not “stuck in the past”, but as a nation that embraced modernity had chosen to be faithful to its past.