James Montgomery Flagg

Perhaps the most recognizable poster in American history, James Montgomery Flagg’s depiction of Uncle Sam pointing at the viewer first appeared as a cover illustration for "Leslie’s Weekly" magazine on July 6, 1916. In that original version Uncle Sam asks: “What are YOU doing for preparedness.” Flagg used himself as a model for the illustration. His inspiration came from a British military recruiting poster created in 1914 by Alfred Leete that featured Lord Kitchener, the United Kingdom’s Secretary of State for War, pointing at his audience while asserting “Your Country Needs YOU.”

After America entered World War I in 1917, Flagg joined the government’s Division of Pictorial Publicity. His Uncle Sam illustration became the centerpiece of a popular recruiting poster—one of 46 propaganda posters he created during that war. During World War II Flagg’s Uncle Sam poster was revived and widely reprinted in a slightly different format.