The work presents the results of a qualitative research that aims: to characterize the expressions of personal and social identity of the population of Valparaiso Metropolitano, Chile; manifested through the use of preventive sanitary masks of contagion by COVID19, as analogies of theatrical masks as symbolic accessories of identity construction within the social order (Gonzalez, 2018). Images of people using sanitary masks were collected on a voluntary basis, with the application of informed consent. The analysis was based on the criteria of thematic saturation, significance and relevance. The results indicate that sanitary masks present variabilities in designs, materials and ornaments that allow the creation of aesthetics that constitute analogies with theatrical masks, symbolic accessories of identity transformation, that allow to act according to the contexts and expectations present in a social situation (Alcala-Galiano, 2021). The sanitary masks become theatrical masks that make possible the personal transformation, allowing to build the identity in pandemic context. On the one hand, the health condition it covers the face, providing protection, shelter and personal identity. On the other hand, the theatrical condition constitutes an explicit symbol of meanings for the person using it and for the situation in which it exposes it. From an identity perspective, the sanitary mask provides the individual with a personal space that allows him to join others by similarity to provide contrasts by difference, allowing to transform the individual identity into collective identity. Finally, it can be conceived as an intermediary between polarities, allowing the transformation from one identity to another.