Laotian Symbol poster 147, king and three elephants (Lao poster distributed in Saigon)
A red Lao-language sheet in white: the three-headed elephant under a tiered parasol, the national emblem of Laos, with an oval photographic portrait of an older man in a brocade coat, sash and decorations set into its body. Lao text arches above and below. The tell is transfer and identity-fusion: the portrait is placed inside the state emblem, joining the person to the nation.
Propaganda techniques used in this poster
- Date
- September 3, 1954
- Period
- Cold War
- Made by
- U.S. Information Agency (predecessor: State Department International Information and Educational Exchange Program), Propaganda Posters Distributed in Asia, Latin America and the Middle East series
- Region
- North America
- Country
- United States
- Medium
- Poster
- Issuer type
- State
- Regime
- Eisenhower Administration
- Leader
- Dwight D. Eisenhower
- Audience
- Foreign public
- Purpose
- Persuade or win support
- Themes
- Empire and colonialism, Elections and party politics
- Event
- Cold War
- Source
- Unidentified Source blurred: contractors, cutouts, buried disclosure
- Source
- U.S. National Archives (NARA), Record Group 306, Propaganda Posters (Asia, Latin America, Middle East), retrieved October 4, 2026
- Rights
- Public domain (U.S. government work; NARA RG 306)
U.S. Information Agency / Department of State, September 3, 1954. National Archives, Record Group 306 (NAID 6949036, 306-PPB-147).
Text on the object
ເມືອງລາວມີພະເຈົ້າມະຫາຊີວິດອົງດຽວ ສົມເດັດພະເຈົ້າສີສວ່າງວົງ
The land of Laos has one sovereign (Maha Chivit): His Majesty Sisavang Vong.
Lao script read by eye; spelling of the second line is uncertain.
