This article analyzes the media framings from which National Geographic Magazine -NGM- (1903-1926) contributed to the construction of the identity of Colombians at the beginning of the 20th century. The main argument of this paper defends the idea that the media framings found are directly supported by the ideologies of Manifest Destiny and Positivism. By means of the rhetoric strategy of appropriation, the framings found promote two values associated with the Manifest Destiny: the virtue of the institutions of the United States and the mission to transform the world in accordance with the values professed by this country. Regarding the ideology of positivism, the media framings reproduce this ideology through the rhetorical strategy of classification, given that the reports observe the identity of Colombians through the lens of the scientific theory of Darwinism. © 2017 Pontificia Universidad Javeriana. All rights reserved.