---
title: New air raid warning system
url: https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/new-air-raid-warning-system-ocd-1943/
description: 'Chart poster in blue, red and white with a three-column table: signal given, what it means, and what to do. Tagged by technique, with source and rights.'
section: Collection
---

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3. New air raid warning system

[![New air raid warning system, 1943 US poster: Chart poster in blue, red and white with a three-column table](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/images/new-air-raid-warning-system-ocd-1943.jpg)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/images/new-air-raid-warning-system-ocd-1943.jpg)

# New air raid warning system

Chart poster in blue, red and white with a three-column table: signal given, what it means, and what to do. Blue Warning, Red Danger and White All Clear rows pair siren symbols with drawings of aircraft and bombs. The technique is faint, with instruction first and a fear-appeal only in the Caution line about the first signal being red if enemy planes arrive unseen.

## Propaganda techniques used in this poster

[Fear appeal](https://propagandaarchive.org/techniques/fear-appeal/)

## Text on the object

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

```
NEW AIR RAID WARNING SYSTEM
WHEN SIGNAL IS GIVEN
IT MEANS
YOU DO THIS
BLUE WARNING
STEADY BLAST
ENEMY PLANES HEADED IN YOUR DIRECTION
1. All lights blacked out, unless specifically exempted.
2. Autos continue, with lights on low beam.
3. Pedestrians may walk.
4. Workers remain at jobs.
5. Civilian Defense mobilizes.
RED DANGER
SERIES OF SHORT OR WAVERING BLASTS
BOMBING EXPECTED
1. Traffic stops.
2. All lights blacked out, except authorized emergency lights.
3. Take shelter.
BLUE WARNING
STEADY BLAST
ENEMY PLANES HAVE PASSED BUT MAY RETURN
1. All lights continue blacked out, unless specifically exempted.
2. Leave shelter and resume activities.
3. Resume driving, with lights on low beam.
4. Civilian Defense remains mobilized.
WHITE ALL CLEAR
PUBLIC RADIO ANNOUNCEMENT
OR OTHER DISTINCTIVE AUDIBLE SIGNAL
APPROVED FOR LOCAL USE
DANGER APPEARS TO BE OVER
Blackout ends.
CAUTION! If enemy planes get too close before discovery, the first audible signal will be RED! Listen closely!
REMEMBER! Check your local regulations and observe them!
APPROVED BY THE U. S. OFFICE OF CIVILIAN DEFENSE
OCD PUBLICATION 7015-1
[imprint: U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE : 1943-O-534655]
[CD triangle emblem]
```

[← Navy Men Who Buy War Bonds Help Break the Japs (Admiral Halsey)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/navy-men-war-bonds-halsey-1943/) [News to Use →](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/news-to-use-gift-goods-wpb-1943/)

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- [Gazette of the United States, "The Jeffersoniad" no. VIII, 14 August 1800](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/gazette-us-jeffersoniad-1800/) (United States · Aug 14, 1800 · Name-calling, Fear appeal)
- [Tyrants Prostrate, Liberty Triumphant (pro-Polk cartoon on Dorr), 1844](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/tyrants-prostrate-liberty-triumphant-polk-1844/) (United States · 1844 · Name-calling, Fear appeal). Content note: Speech balloons contain anti-Catholic and nativist wording ('the ruins of Popery') in the mouths of the Whig figures, written by a Democratic cartoonist and shown unaltered.
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