---
title: 'Melati bedonbal-e shah-e khod (A Nation Following Its Shah): Pahlavi government poster'
url: https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/pro-shah-nation-follows-shah-1965/
description: Painted poster showing Mohammad Reza Shah in full-dress uniform walking beside a Persepolis relief of Achaemenid dignitaries, with flag-bearing crowds…
section: Collection
---

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

[![Melati bedonbal-e shah-e khod (A Nation Following Its Shah): Pahlavi government poster](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/images/pro-shah-nation-follows-shah-1965.jpg)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/images/pro-shah-nation-follows-shah-1965.jpg)

# Melati bedonbal-e shah-e khod (A Nation Following Its Shah): Pahlavi government poster

Painted poster showing Mohammad Reza Shah in full-dress uniform walking beside a Persepolis relief of Achaemenid dignitaries, with flag-bearing crowds behind him. The relief lends ancient royal prestige to the sitting monarch, and the slogan offers 'greatness' and 'honour' rather than a specific claim.

- **Date:** 1965
- **Period:** [Cold War](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/#era=cold-war)
- **Made by:** General Directorate of Publications and Propaganda (Edareh-ye Kol-e Entesharat va Tabligat), Imperial Government of Iran; artist signed 'Davallou'
- **Region:** [Middle East and North Africa](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/#region=middle-east-north-africa)
- **Country:** [Iran](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/#country=iran)
- **Medium:** [Poster](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/#medium=poster)
- **Issuer type:** [State](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/#actor=state)
- **Regime:** [Pahlavi Iran](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/#regime=pahlavi-iran)
- **Leader:** [Mohammad Reza Pahlavi](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/#leader=mohammad-reza-pahlavi)
- **Audience:** [Domestic public](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/#audience=domestic-public)
- **Purpose:** [Persuade or win support](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/#purpose=persuade-support)
- **Theme:** [Elections and party politics](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/#theme=elections-party-politics)
- **Techniques:** [Transfer](https://propagandaarchive.org/techniques/transfer/) [Glittering generalities](https://propagandaarchive.org/techniques/glittering-generalities/)
- **Source:** Identified Openly sourced: the speaker is who they say they are
- **Source:** [Wikimedia Commons (from Drew Eatts auction catalogue)](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Pro-Shah_Propaganda_Poster,_issued_by_the_Government_offices.jpg), retrieved September 29, 2026
- **Rights:** Public domain per Commons (PD-Iran); Iran has no U.S. copyright relations (Circular 38A) General Directorate of Publications and Propaganda, Iran; artist 'Davallou'. Via Wikimedia Commons.

## Text on the object

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

```
ملتی بدنبال شاه خود در راه عظمت و سربلندی ایران عزیز

نشریهٔ اداره کل انتشارات و تبلیغات

[artist's signature, bottom right: دولو]
```

English translation (machine translation by Claude, not verified by a fluent reader)

```
A nation following its Shah on the path of the greatness and high standing of dear Iran.

Publication of the General Directorate of Publications and Propaganda.

[artist's signature, bottom right: 'Dolu' / 'Davallou']
```

The imprint line's Persian word 'تبلیغات' can be rendered 'propaganda' or 'advertising'; both are usual in mid-century official usage. The signature reading is uncertain. Translation is a machine translation by Claude, not verified by a fluent reader.

[← Peace, Little Girl ("Daisy")](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/daisy-ad-1964/) [Số hồi chánh viên tại Phú-Yên đã lên đến hơn 2400! (Ralliers in Phu Yen Have Risen to Over 2,400!) →](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/chieu-hoi-phu-yen-2400-1966/)

## 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)
- [Gold coin of Kanishka: King of Kings legend, king at the altar, deity Oesho](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/gold-dinar-kanishka-king-of-kings-0130/) (0130 · Transfer)
- [Gold solidus of Justinian I, reverse VICTORIA AVGGG with Victory holding a Christogram staff](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/solidus-justinian-i-victoria-avggg-0538/) (0538 · Transfer, Glittering generalities)
- [Bayeux Tapestry, scene 23: UBI HAROLD SACRAMENTVM FECIT VVILLELMO DVCI](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/bayeux-tapestry-harold-oath-to-william-1070/) (1070 · Transfer, Card stacking)
- [Frontispiece to Eikon Basilike, The Pourtraicture of His Sacred Majestie in his Solitudes and Sufferings (Hollar, 1649)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/eikon-basilike-frontispiece-hollar-1649/) (1649 · Transfer, Glittering generalities)
- [Consult of the doctors on the grave illness of the Grand Sultan (Consult vande medicijnen inde swaere siekte vanden grooten Sultaen)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/consult-of-the-doctors-sick-sultan-antwerp-1683/) (1683 · Transfer, Bandwagon)
- [The Highlanders Medley, or The Duke Triumphant (A Loyal Song)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/highlanders-medley-duke-triumphant-1746/) (1746 · Name-calling, Transfer)
- [Marche du Dom Quichotte moderne pour la deffence du Moulin des Abus (March of the Modern Don Quixote in Defence of the Mill of Abuses)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/dom-quichotte-moulin-des-abus-1791/) (1791 · Name-calling, Transfer)