'Mission Accomplished' banner on USS Abraham Lincoln
Sailors man the rails of USS Abraham Lincoln under the 'Mission Accomplished' banner that hung behind President George W. Bush on 1 May 2003, when he landed aboard in a flight suit and announced the end of major combat operations in Iraq. The carrier, crew and banner lent the look of military victory to the address. The Iraq War went on, with U.S. combat operations until 2010 and U.S. forces in the country until 2011.
- Date
- May 2, 2003
- Period
- Contemporary
- Made by
- U.S. government (White House staff with the U.S. Navy)
- Region
- North America
- Country
- United States
- Medium
- Photograph
- Issuer type
- State
- Regime
- George W. Bush Administration
- Leader
- George W. Bush
- Audience
- Domestic public
- Purpose
- Reassure
- Themes
- War and the military, Media and information
- Event
- Iraq War
- Techniques
- Transfer
- Source
- Identified Openly sourced: the speaker is who they say they are
- Source
- Wikimedia Commons, retrieved September 27, 2026
- Rights
- Public domain (U.S. government work)
U.S. Navy photo by PH3 Juan E. Diaz (030502-N-9214D-002).
Text on the object
MISSION ACCOMPLISHED
This is the only text visible on the banner itself in this photograph; no other printed text on the ship is legible.
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