---
title: 'SWAPO: The People Armed (c. 1976 solidarity poster)'
url: https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/swapo-the-people-armed-1976/
description: 'A green, blue and red poster shows two armed fighters advancing under the headline ''SWAPO: the people armed'' and the line ''August 26, 1966 - Beginning of…'
section: Collection
---

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

[![SWAPO: The People Armed (c. 1976 solidarity poster)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/images/swapo-the-people-armed-1976.jpg)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/images/swapo-the-people-armed-1976.jpg)

# SWAPO: The People Armed (c. 1976 solidarity poster)

A green, blue and red poster shows two armed fighters advancing under the headline 'SWAPO: the people armed' and the line 'August 26, 1966 - Beginning of armed struggle in Namibia'. A quotation attributed to Kwame Nkrumah ('It is by the people's effort that colonialism is routed...') vouches for the cause, and the anniversary date ties the movement to an earlier independence leader's authority.

- **Date:** 1976
- **Period:** [Cold War](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/#era=cold-war)
- **Made by:** U.S. solidarity poster publisher supporting SWAPO of Namibia (publisher not legible on the scan)
- **Region:** [North America](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/#region=north-america)
- **Country:** [United States](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/#country=united-states)
- **Medium:** [Poster](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/#medium=poster)
- **Issuer type:** [Movement](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/#actor=movement)
- **Regime:** [Ford Administration](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/#regime=ford-administration)
- **Leader:** [Gerald Ford](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/#leader=gerald-ford)
- **Audience:** [Domestic public](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/#audience=domestic-public)
- **Purpose:** [Persuade or win support](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/#purpose=persuade-support)
- **Themes:** [Empire and colonialism](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/#theme=empire-colonialism), [War and the military](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/#theme=war-military)
- **Event:** [Namibian War of Independence](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/#event=namibian-war-of-independence)
- **Techniques:** [Testimonial](https://propagandaarchive.org/techniques/testimonial/) [Transfer](https://propagandaarchive.org/techniques/transfer/)
- **Source:** Identified Openly sourced: the speaker is who they say they are
- **Source:** [Library of Congress](https://www.loc.gov/item/2015649248/), retrieved September 29, 2026
- **Rights:** Public domain (published without copyright notice c. 1976; LoC: No known restrictions on publication) Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division, Yanker Poster Collection, POS 6 - US, no. 366, gift of Gary Yanker

## Text on the object

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

```
SWAPO: the people armed

August 26, 1966 - Beginning of armed struggle in Namibia

"It is by the people's effort that colonialism is routed, it is by the sweat of the people's brow that nations are built."
-Kwame Nkrumah

South West Africa People's Organization

[fine print along bottom edge, illegible]
```

Headline blocks and the quotation are clear at 514 px; the attribution line under the quotation is small but legible. The imprint along the bottom edge is not readable on this scan. Colour-calibration rulers and grey scale around the poster are part of the Library of Congress copy photograph, not the poster.

[← Barre Cult of Personality Mural](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/siad-barre-mural-1976/) [We need handguns like we need a hole in the head →](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/we-need-handguns-hole-in-head-1976/)

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- [Seljuq gold dinar of Sanjar, dated 493 AH, with the Abbasid caliph named on one face](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/seljuq-gold-dinar-sanjar-caliph-name-1099/) (1099 · Testimonial)
- [Bande Mataram (Paris), memorial page to Madan Lal Dhingra, 17 August 1909](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/bande-mataram-paris-dhingra-memorial-1909/) (Aug 17, 1909 · Testimonial, Transfer)
- [Australia's imperishable record. Australians! The empire needs you (Farmer's, Sydney)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/australias-imperishable-record-1915/) (1915 · Testimonial, Glittering generalities)
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- [Mr. John Dillon, M.P., on recruiting in Ireland. Join an Irish regiment to-day](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/john-dillon-on-recruiting-in-ireland-1915/) (1915 · Testimonial, Semantic hijacking)
- [Wer Kriegsanleihe zeichnet, macht mir die schönste Geburtstagsgabe! (Whoever Subscribes to the War Loan Gives Me the Finest Birthday Present!)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/hindenburg-geburtstagsgabe-1917/) (1917 · Testimonial)
- [Reinforcements. Our scrap of paper, honor it. Vote Yes. Referendum (Australia, 1917)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/reinforcements-referendum-vote-yes-1917/) (1917 · Testimonial, Transfer)