Content note: Reference chart includes the German swastika national flag and ensign, and the Japanese rising-sun ensign, shown as printed. This object is shown as it was published. Why
Flags of Maritime Nations
A colour reference chart of national, ensign, merchant and jack flags in rows, labelled by country, including Allied, Axis and neutral states on the same sheet in the same format. The persuasion technique is faint here: it is an identification chart, and its only symbolic work is the display of national emblems (transfer), shown with equal treatment for each nation.
Propaganda techniques used in this poster
- Date
- 1941
- Period
- Second World War
- Made by
- U.S. Navy, Office of Naval Operations and Hydrographic Office
- Region
- North America
- Country
- United States
- Medium
- Poster
- Issuer type
- Military
- Regime
- Roosevelt Administration
- Leader
- Franklin D. Roosevelt
- Audience
- Mixed
- Purpose
- Warn or inform
- Themes
- War and the military, Science and technology
- 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, Hydrographic Office. National Archives and Records Administration, RG 44, 44-PA-778 (NAID 514266).
Text on the object
FLAGS OF MARITIME NATIONS ARGENTINE REPUBLIC: ENSIGN; MERCHANT. BELGIUM: ENSIGN . NATIONAL . MERCHANT. BOLIVIA: ENSIGN; NATIONAL. BRAZIL: ENSIGN . NATIONAL . MERCHANT. BRITISH EMPIRE: NATIONAL . JACK; WHITE ENSIGN; BLUE ENSIGN . MERCHANT; RED ENSIGN . MERCHANT; AUSTRALIA COMMONWEALTH . ENSIGN; CANADA . ENSIGN; NEW ZEALAND . ENSIGN; IRISH FREE STATE . NATIONAL; UNION OF SOUTH AFRICA . NATIONAL. BULGARIA. CHILE. CHINA. COLOMBIA. COSTA RICA. CUBA. CZECHOSLOVAKIA. DENMARK. DOMINICAN REPUBLIC. ECUADOR. EGYPT. ESTONIA. FINLAND. FRANCE. GERMANY (ENSIGN; NATIONAL . MERCHANT . JACK). GREECE. GUATEMALA. HAITI. HONDURAS. HUNGARY. ICELAND. IRAN. IRAQ. ITALY. JAPAN. LATVIA. LITHUANIA. LIBERIA. MEXICO. MONACO. MOROCCO. NETHERLANDS. NICARAGUA. NORWAY. EL SALVADOR. PANAMA. PARAGUAY. PERU. POLAND. PORTUGAL. ROMANIA. SPAIN. SWEDEN. SYRIA. THAILAND. TUNISIA. TURKEY. U.S.S.R. URUGUAY. VENEZUELA. YUGOSLAVIA. [Small captions under each flag read ENSIGN, NATIONAL, MERCHANT, JACK, as listed; fine print under some flags is not fully legible.] Edited by the Office of Naval Operations Issued by the Hydrographic Office under the authority of the Secretary of the Navy.
