---
title: I Want You for U.S. Army
url: https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/i-want-you-for-us-army-1917/
description: Uncle Sam, in a star-banded top hat and framed in red, white and blue, points straight out at the viewer under the words 'I Want You for U.S. Army.' The…
section: Collection
---

[Collection](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/)

[![I Want You for U.S. Army](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/images/i-want-you-for-us-army-1917.jpg)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/images/i-want-you-for-us-army-1917.jpg)

# I Want You for U.S. Army

Uncle Sam, in a star-banded top hat and framed in red, white and blue, points straight out at the viewer under the words 'I Want You for U.S. Army.' The national personification makes the request, so the standing of the nation itself stands in for any case about why this viewer should enlist, which is the tell of transfer.

- **Date:** 1917
- **Period:** [First World War](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/#era=wwi)
- **Made by:** U.S. Army recruiting; James Montgomery Flagg (artist)
- **Region:** [North America](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/#region=north-america)
- **Country:** [United States](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/#country=united-states)
- **Medium:** [Poster](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/#medium=poster)
- **Issuer type:** [Military](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/#actor=military)
- **Regime:** [Wilson Administration](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/#regime=wilson-administration)
- **Leader:** [Woodrow Wilson](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/#leader=woodrow-wilson)
- **Audience:** [Domestic public](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/#audience=domestic-public)
- **Purpose:** [Recruit](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/#purpose=recruit)
- **Theme:** [War and the military](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/#theme=war-military)
- **Event:** [World War I](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/#event=world-war-i)
- **Techniques:** [Transfer](https://propagandaarchive.org/techniques/transfer/)
- **Source:** Identified Openly sourced: the speaker is who they say they are
- **Source:** [Library of Congress](https://www.loc.gov/item/96507165/), retrieved September 27, 2026
- **Rights:** Public domain in the U.S. (published before 1931) Flagg, James Montgomery, 1877-1960, artist. 1917. Library of Congress, LC-DIG-ppmsc-03521.

## Text on the object

Original (English) · read from the image, not independently checked

```
I WANT YOU
FOR U.S. ARMY

NEAREST RECRUITING STATION

[illegible — small copyright imprint below the caption line]
```

James Montgomery Flagg's signature is visible near his right shoulder in the illustration. A line of small printed copyright text runs beneath 'NEAREST RECRUITING STATION' but is too small and low-contrast in this scan to read with confidence; marked illegible rather than guessed.

[← I vy občané, vzhůru do boje! Upisujte 7. válečnou půjčku! (You too, citizens, on to the fight! Subscribe to the 7th War Loan!)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/i-vy-obcane-1917/) [The Perpetrators of the War, in Japan to Her Allies (Tokyo) →](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/japan-to-her-allies-perpetrators-of-the-war-1917/)

## Using the same techniques

- [Bronze sestertius of Gaius (Caligula), reverse S P Q R P P OB CIVES SERVATOS in an oak wreath](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/sestertius-caligula-ob-cives-servatos-0037/) (0037 · Testimonial, Transfer)
- [Gold coin of Kanishka: King of Kings legend, king at the altar, deity Oesho](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/gold-dinar-kanishka-king-of-kings-0130/) (0130 · Transfer)
- [Gold solidus of Justinian I, reverse VICTORIA AVGGG with Victory holding a Christogram staff](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/solidus-justinian-i-victoria-avggg-0538/) (0538 · Transfer, Glittering generalities)
- [Bayeux Tapestry, scene 23: UBI HAROLD SACRAMENTVM FECIT VVILLELMO DVCI](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/bayeux-tapestry-harold-oath-to-william-1070/) (1070 · Transfer, Card stacking)
- [Frontispiece to Eikon Basilike, The Pourtraicture of His Sacred Majestie in his Solitudes and Sufferings (Hollar, 1649)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/eikon-basilike-frontispiece-hollar-1649/) (1649 · Transfer, Glittering generalities)
- [Consult of the doctors on the grave illness of the Grand Sultan (Consult vande medicijnen inde swaere siekte vanden grooten Sultaen)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/consult-of-the-doctors-sick-sultan-antwerp-1683/) (1683 · Transfer, Bandwagon)
- [The Highlanders Medley, or The Duke Triumphant (A Loyal Song)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/highlanders-medley-duke-triumphant-1746/) (1746 · Name-calling, Transfer)
- [Marche du Dom Quichotte moderne pour la deffence du Moulin des Abus (March of the Modern Don Quixote in Defence of the Mill of Abuses)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/dom-quichotte-moulin-des-abus-1791/) (1791 · Name-calling, Transfer)