Shut up! Name, rank, serial no. only!
Black-and-white cartoon of a helmeted soldier whose mouth is covered by a hand reaching in from the right, under the headline 'Shut up!'. A bulleted list gives name, rank and serial number only. The technique is faint here: a direct command to servicemen, with the covered mouth as the one visual cue about capture and questioning.
Propaganda techniques used in this poster
- Date
- 1941
- Period
- Second World War
- Made by
- U.S. armed forces (issuer not printed)
- 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
- War and the military, Security and surveillance
- 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. armed forces. National Archives and Records Administration, RG 44, 44-PA-1744 (NAID 515415).
Text on the object
SHUT UP! • Name..... • Rank..... • Serial No. ONLY ! [imprint: 42-2118]
