3,000,000 Belgians are destitute in Belgium (Hassall)
A helmeted Britannia-like guardian figure rises from clouds behind a kneeling mother and three children, under '3,000,000 Belgians are destitute in Belgium' and 'They must not starve'. The tell is the allegorical protector: the figure borrows classical prestige for the appeal and casts the viewer's donation as rescue.
- Date
- 1915
- Period
- First World War
- Made by
- National Committee for Relief in Belgium (London)
- Country
- United Kingdom
- Medium
- Poster
- Issuer type
- NGO
- Regime
- Asquith Government
- Leader
- Herbert Henry Asquith
- Audience
- Domestic public
- Purpose
- Fundraise
- Themes
- War and the military, Home front
- Event
- World War I
- Techniques
- Transfer
- Regime
- Asquith government
- Leader
- H. H. Asquith
- Source
- Identified Openly sourced: the speaker is who they say they are
- Source
- Library of Congress, retrieved October 2, 2026
- Rights
- Public domain (published 1915, before 1931; Library of Congress World War I Posters, item 2005691294)
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division Washington, D.C. 20540 USA (item https://www.loc.gov/item/2005691294/)
Text on the object
3,000,000 BELGIANS ARE DESTITUTE in BELGIUM They must not starve. SUPPORT THE LOCAL FUND. Issued by The National Committee for Relief in Belgium, Trafalgar Buildings, Trafalgar Square, W.C. [small] PRINTED BY CROWTHER & GOODMAN, 24 FENCHURCH ST, E.C. [small] Hassall [signature]
