Follow the Boys in Blue for Home and Country: Enlist in the Navy
A long queue of civilian men winds along a quay toward a warship, where sailors in blue sit and wave from the foreground, under a large U.S. flag. The tell of bandwagon is the line itself: the viewer is shown many others already joining, and the slogan 'Follow the Boys in Blue' invites him to join them, with 'for home and country' attaching a patriotic value.
Propaganda techniques used in this poster
- Date
- 1917
- Period
- First World War
- Made by
- U.S. Navy (Navy Publicity Bureau, New York); George Wright (artist)
- Region
- North America
- Country
- United States
- Medium
- Poster
- Issuer type
- Military
- Regime
- Wilson Administration
- Leader
- Woodrow Wilson
- Audience
- Domestic public
- Purpose
- Recruit
- Theme
- War and the military
- Event
- World War I
- Regime
- Wilson administration
- Leader
- Woodrow Wilson
- Source
- Identified Openly sourced: the speaker is who they say they are
- Source
- U.S. National Archives (NARA), RG 4 (U.S. Food Administration), World War I Posters (NAID 512439), retrieved October 3, 2026
- Rights
- NARA Unrestricted; hosted by owner decision
U.S. Navy. National Archives and Records Administration, 4-P-54.
Text on the object
follow the Boys in Blue for Home and Country [signature in lettering at lower left of picture:] G. Wright Painted for and presented to the U. S. Navy by George Wright [strip under picture, lower right, small print:] Duplicated by The GILL Engraving Co. N.Y. U. S. Navy Publicity Bureau, New York ENLIST IN THE NAVY
Small print read from the 2000 px scan at the limit of legibility; the engraving-company line in the blue strip under the picture is faint and its first word is uncertain.
