A national emergency is upon us - Arise America before it is too late!
Navy recruiting poster: a waving 48-star flag above large lettering reading 'A National Emergency is upon us - Arise America before it is too late!', then 'Defend your Country and your Loved Ones. Enlist now in the United States Navy or U.S. Naval Reserve'. Urgency and a threat to family are stated in words alone, without any depiction of an enemy.
Propaganda techniques used in this poster
- Date
- 1941
- Period
- Second World War
- Made by
- U.S. Navy and U.S. Naval Reserve
- Region
- North America
- Country
- United States
- Medium
- Poster
- Issuer type
- Military
- Regime
- Roosevelt Administration
- Leader
- Franklin D. Roosevelt
- Audience
- Domestic public
- Purpose
- Recruit
- Theme
- War and the military
- Event
- World War II
- Regime
- Roosevelt administration
- Leader
- Franklin D. Roosevelt
- Source
- Identified Openly sourced: the speaker is who they say they are
- Source
- U.S. National Archives and Records Administration, Record Group 44, World War II Posters, retrieved October 4, 2026
- Rights
- Public domain (U.S. government work)
U.S. Navy and U.S. Naval Reserve. National Archives and Records Administration, RG 44, 44-PA-14 (NAID 513510).
Text on the object
A National Emergency IS UPON US Arise America before it is too late! Defend your Country and your Loved Ones Enlist now in The UNITED STATES NAVY or U.S. NAVAL RESERVE [imprint: illegible]
