The article considers the place of figurative and symbolic cultural phenomena in the process of forming the state identity of modern Russian youth. These phenomena are considered from the point of view of the possibility of direct influence on the value consciousness by using the socio-psychological potential of “aesthetic information” (A. Mol). The correlation of the figurative and symbolic aspects of the formation of state identity with the mythological and ideological aspects of this process is shown. The transformation of “national mythologems” into rational ideologems, which is inevitable in the conditions of rationalization and globalization of the modern world implies the autonomization of the value consciousness of the socializing individual, which, in turn, is impossible without using the potential of artistic images symbolizing the cultural unity of society.