NATO Explains Why The Theme For ‘Star Trek: First Contact’ Was Played At Sweden’s Induction Ceremony

https://trekmovie.com/2024/03/30/nato-explains-why-the-theme-for-star-trek-first-contact-was-played-at-swedens-induction-ceremony/

The flag ceremony was held on March 11 in Belgium. As the assorted officials gathered and the flagbearers prepared to raise the Swedish flag, the band started off the event playing the main theme from Jerry Goldsmith’s score for the 1996 film Star Trek: First Contact. You can see and hear the moment below from the live stream replay via Sky News. [music starts after first 15 seconds]

A NATO official tells TrekMovie:

“Ahead of ceremonial military events, the band will often play a range of popular music, with the band given discretion with respect to which music to play. Jerry Goldsmith was a masterful film composer, as exemplified by his work on Star Trek’s “First Contact”. At the ceremony itself, the national anthem of Sweden and the NATO anthem were played.”
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While it’s clear the musical director for the military band was a fan of Jerry Goldsmith, it could be they are also enough of a Trek fan to see a connection to the alliance and the themes of First Contact, which showed humanity’s first encounter with an alien race. Meeting the Vulcans in the aftermath of a world war began a new era of galactic cooperation that is held up as an idealized future for humanity.

They may also be a big enough fan to remember the specific connection between First Contact and Sweden. In the film, the USS Enterprise-E travels back in time from the 24th century to 2063. When Captain Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart) tries to explain the Borg to 21st century local Lily Sloane (Alfre Woodard) you get a bit of a recurring Sweden gag…

"Borg are Swedish" https://youtu.be/EEHPvPsjtDs