In time of war you are liable to punishment by death or imprisonment for not more than thirty years

Text-only legal warning in red and black type inside double borders: 'YOU' and 'DEATH' are set in very large red letters, with five numbered acts below that are said to carry the penalty. The tell is fear-appeal through typography, enlarging the second-person pronoun and the penalty, followed by a list of listed acts and 'Know the law for your protection'.

Propaganda techniques used in this poster

Fear appeal

Date: 1941
Period: Second World War
Made by: Issuer not printed
Region: North America
Country: United States
Medium: Poster
Issuer type: Mixed
Regime: Roosevelt Administration
Leader: Franklin D. Roosevelt
Audience: Domestic public
Purpose: Warn or inform
Themes: Security and surveillance, Home front
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)
Issuer not printed. National Archives and Records Administration, RG 44, 44-PA-1095 (NAID 514622).

Text on the object

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

IN TIME OF WAR
YOU
ARE LIABLE TO PUNISHMENT BY
DEATH
OR IMPRISONMENT FOR NOT MORE THAN 30 YEARS
FOR
PERFORMING ACTS WITH INTENT TO INJURE
THE UNITED STATES OR TO THE ADVANTAGE
OF FOREIGN NATIONS. AS FOLLOWS:
1 Obtaining or helping to obtain vital information
concerning military installations.
2 Obtaining, willfully, photographs, blue-prints or documents.
3 Intrusting, willfully, information to unauthorized parties.
4 Permitting through gross negligence, military information
to be stolen or destroyed.
5 Disclosing information affecting national defense to a
foreign government or its agents.
KNOW THE LAW FOR YOUR PROTECTION