Keep the enemy in the dark! Be careful, what you say or write!
Security poster: a black silhouette of a soldier in a German-style helmet, rifle slung, gropes forward with both hands outstretched against a dark ground, under the headline 'keep the enemy in the dark!' and a yellow band reading 'BE CAREFUL' over 'what you say..or write!'. The technique is faint: an implied threat that careless talk helps the enemy, shown by the groping enemy figure.
Propaganda techniques used in this poster
- Date
- 1944
- Period
- Second World War
- Made by
- U.S. War Department, Adjutant General's Office
- Region
- North America
- Country
- United States
- Medium
- Poster
- Issuer type
- Military
- Regime
- Roosevelt Administration
- Leader
- Franklin D. Roosevelt
- Audience
- Own forces
- Purpose
- Warn or inform
- Themes
- Security and surveillance, War and the military
- 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. War Department, Adjutant General's Office. National Archives and Records Administration, RG 44, 44-PA-1208 (NAID 514814).
Text on the object
keep the enemy in the dark! BE CAREFUL-- what you say..or write! WD, AGO "Dark" Security Poster. Additional copies may be requisitioned as prescribed in AR 310-200, May 1, 1943, as changed by Changes No. 2, 15 September 1943. [imprint: P-X-47--RPB--2-15-44--75M]
