---
title: Nancy Reagan holds up a 'Just Say No' sign for press photographers
url: https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/just-say-no-sign-ranch-1986/
description: On horseback at Rancho del Cielo, the Reagans' California ranch, Nancy Reagan holds up a hand-lettered 'Just Say No' sign for the press while President…
section: Collection
---

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

[![Nancy Reagan holds up a 'Just Say No' sign for press photographers](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/images/just-say-no-sign-ranch-1986.jpg)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/images/just-say-no-sign-ranch-1986.jpg)

# Nancy Reagan holds up a 'Just Say No' sign for press photographers

On horseback at Rancho del Cielo, the Reagans' California ranch, Nancy Reagan holds up a hand-lettered 'Just Say No' sign for the press while President Reagan looks on, 6 September 1986. Eight days later the couple gave a joint televised address launching a national campaign against drug abuse, in which she urged young people to 'just say no'. The photo puts the First Lady's own name and image behind the slogan, as the campaign's testimonial face.

- **Date:** September 6, 1986
- **Period:** [Cold War](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/#era=cold-war)
- **Made by:** U.S. government (First Lady Nancy Reagan and the White House)
- **Region:** [North America](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/#region=north-america)
- **Country:** [United States](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/#country=united-states)
- **Medium:** [Photograph](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/#medium=photograph)
- **Issuer type:** [State](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/#actor=state)
- **Regime:** [Reagan Administration](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/#regime=reagan-administration)
- **Leader:** [Ronald Reagan](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/#leader=ronald-reagan)
- **Audience:** [Domestic public](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/#audience=domestic-public)
- **Purpose:** [Persuade or win support](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/#purpose=persuade-support)
- **Themes:** [Health](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/#theme=health), [Media and information](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/#theme=media-information)
- **Event:** [War on Drugs](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/#event=war-on-drugs)
- **Techniques:** [Testimonial](https://propagandaarchive.org/techniques/testimonial/)
- **Source:** Identified Openly sourced: the speaker is who they say they are
- **Source:** [Wikimedia Commons (Ronald Reagan Presidential Library, via DPLA)](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:President_Ronald_Reagan_with_Nancy_Reagan_Who_Holds_Up_a_%22Just_Say_No%22_Sign_for_Press_Photographers_While_Riding_Horses_at_Rancho_Del_Cielo_-_DPLA_-_354c6b3a31af802f332913cef1f1d9af.jpg), retrieved September 27, 2026
- **Rights:** Public domain (U.S. government work) White House Photographic Office, Ronald Reagan Presidential Library (NARA).

## Text on the object

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

```
JUST
SAY
NO
```

Hand-lettered in marker on a piece of white card, held up by Nancy Reagan; not a printed sign.

[← "Frontul Democrației și Unității Socialiste - cel mai larg organism politic": Romanian wall chart](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/romanian-front-of-democracy-and-socialist-unity-1985/) [Дым, в котором мы живём (The Smoke in Which We Live) →](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/dym-v-kotorom-my-zhivyom-1988/)

## 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)
- [Seljuq gold dinar of Sanjar, dated 493 AH, with the Abbasid caliph named on one face](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/seljuq-gold-dinar-sanjar-caliph-name-1099/) (1099 · Testimonial)
- [Bande Mataram (Paris), memorial page to Madan Lal Dhingra, 17 August 1909](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/bande-mataram-paris-dhingra-memorial-1909/) (Aug 17, 1909 · Testimonial, Transfer)
- [Australia's imperishable record. Australians! The empire needs you (Farmer's, Sydney)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/australias-imperishable-record-1915/) (1915 · Testimonial, Glittering generalities)
- [Ireland & Poland (recruiting appeal quoting the Rev. William P. Burke)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/ireland-and-poland-1915/) (1915 · Fear appeal, Testimonial)
- [Mr. John Dillon, M.P., on recruiting in Ireland. Join an Irish regiment to-day](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/john-dillon-on-recruiting-in-ireland-1915/) (1915 · Testimonial, Semantic hijacking)
- [Wer Kriegsanleihe zeichnet, macht mir die schönste Geburtstagsgabe! (Whoever Subscribes to the War Loan Gives Me the Finest Birthday Present!)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/hindenburg-geburtstagsgabe-1917/) (1917 · Testimonial)
- [Reinforcements. Our scrap of paper, honor it. Vote Yes. Referendum (Australia, 1917)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/reinforcements-referendum-vote-yes-1917/) (1917 · Testimonial, Transfer)