How the U.S. got Today’s Uncle Sam
By: Samuel Sullivan
Tags: Culture, Nonfiction, History, Marketing, Art

Alfred Leete’s 1914 poster Lord Kitchener Wants You (above), was a key promotional tool to encourage British men to volunteer for the army. It featured Great Britain’s Secretary for War Lord Kitchener, a man with a serious mustache, and a more serious stare.

According to The Conversation, hundreds of thousands of British men volunteered to fight in World War I after the poster was released. Many other factors led to the high levels of volunteerism amongst British men, such as social pressure, peer pressure, and an aggressive recruitment campaign. Still, the poster of Kitchener was popular and effective.

The Lord Kitchener poster, especially his pointing finger, influenced the 1916 Uncle Sam poster’s illustrator.

James Flagg — Library of Congress

James Montgomery Flagg is the illustrator of the iconic Uncle Sam, I Want YOU for U.S. Army poster, but there is also a striking resemblance.

Look at his face (above); if you aged it until the hair turned white, added a white-starred hat with blue trim and a white goatee, you would see none other than the iconic Uncle Sam. Flagg based Uncle Sam’s face on his own.

According to Travis Andrews of the Washington Post, Flagg’s self-influenced depiction of Uncle Sam was so effective it was printed at least 4 million times in the final year of World War I. It became so popular it was used again to recruit troops during World War II.

Including the Uncle Sam poster, Flagg designed 46 propaganda posters for the U.S. during World War I. Flagg’s Uncle Sam, aside from the new face, was also more muscular and powerful than the previous depictions.

Flagg’s Uncle Sam fits how many Americans see America, strong, fervent, and patriotic.

Context

Many Americans wanted to enter World War I soon after it began in 1914. On May 7, 1915, the Lusitania’s sinking increased those desires, but President Woodrow Wilson stayed peaceful. President Wilson was reelected on a peace platform in 1916, but it was clear war loomed on the horizon.

Flagg’s reimagination of Uncle Sam deepened feelings of patriotism during the key months leading up to the U.S. officially entered the war. It had a similar effect as Leete’s poster featuring Lord Kitchener had on the British citizens.

President Woodrow Wilson appeared before a Joint Session of Congress on April 2, 1917. He said:

“It is a fearful thing to lead this great peaceful people into war…but the right is more precious than peace, and we shall fight for the things which we have always carried nearest our hearts, — for democracy, for the right of those who submit to authority to have a voice in their own governments…for a universal dominion of right by such a concert of free peoples as shall bring peace and safety to all nations and make the world itself at last free.”

Uncle Sam represents President Wilson’s words. He is strong enough to stand up and fight against tyranny to preserve democracy and freedom.

Final Thoughts

Today, Uncle Sam is not only used to promote patriotism and recruitment for the military. He is used throughout American culture. I recently saw Uncle Sam wearing a mask and gloves to promote safety during the coronavirus pandemic.

Now, when I look at Uncle Sam, I see Wilson, Lord Kitchener, and Flagg, as well as the distinguishable personification of the U.S. that I value as an American.