'Allons-y... Canadiens!' (Canadian Department of National War Services)
A young soldier with a fixed bayonet and a 'CANADA' shoulder title cries out in front of a large, backlit Union Jack. The flag's prestige is attached to the French-language call 'Allons-y... Canadiens!' ('Let's go, Canadians!'), pairing enlistment with the imperial emblem.
Published by the Information Service of Canada's Department of National War Services, with artwork by Henry Eveleigh, this recruiting poster is dated 1941 as the earlier year of a 1941 to 1942 range. A young soldier with a fixed bayonet and a "CANADA" shoulder title cries out before a large, backlit Union Jack. The printed call is the French "Allons-y... Canadiens!", rendered in the English text as "Let's go.. Canadians!". It uses Transfer: the imperial flag's prestige is attached to the plea to enlist, pairing military service with an emblem of the wider British Empire.
Propaganda techniques used in this poster
- Date
- 1941
- Period
- Second World War
- Made by
- Government of Canada, Department of National War Services, Information Service (artist Henry Eveleigh)
Full record
Region, Country, Medium, Issuer type, Regime, Leader, Audience, Purpose, Themes, Event, Source, Rights
- Region
- North America
- Country
- Canada
- Medium
- Poster
- Issuer type
- State
- Regime
- Mackenzie King Government
- Leader
- William Lyon Mackenzie King
- Audience
- Domestic public
- Purpose
- Recruit
- Themes
- War and the military, Empire and colonialism
- Event
- World War II
- Source
- Identified Openly sourced: the speaker is who they say they are
- Source
- Bibliothèque et Archives nationales du Québec (BAnQ), via Wikimedia Commons, retrieved September 29, 2026
- Rights
- Public domain (Canadian Crown copyright expired; PD-Canada and PD-1996 per Wikimedia Commons)
Government of Canada, Department of National War Services, Information Service; artist Henry Eveleigh, 1941-1942. BAnQ numérique, via Wikimedia Commons.
Text on the object
Original (French) · read from the image, not independently checked
Allons-y.. CANADIENS! Publiée par le Service de l'Information, Ministère des Services nationaux de guerre, Ottawa. IMPRIMÉE AU CANADA — UF - 1 L [on the soldier's shoulder:] CANADA [signature, upper right:] Eveleigh
Let's go.. CANADIANS! Published by the Information Service, Department of National War Services, Ottawa. PRINTED IN CANADA — UF - 1 L [on the soldier's shoulder:] CANADA [signature, upper right:] Eveleigh
