---
title: Twelve Commandments of the Soldier (Lao poster distributed in Vientiane)
url: https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/twelve-commandments-of-the-soldier-lao-1958/
description: 'A twelve-panel comic-strip poster in Lao showing a beret-wearing soldier following twelve rules of conduct: shaking hands with villagers.'
section: Collection
---

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3. Twelve Commandments of the Soldier

[![Twelve Commandments of the Soldier, 1958 US poster: A twelve-panel comic-strip poster in Lao showing a beret-wearing soldier](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/images/twelve-commandments-of-the-soldier-lao-1958.jpg)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/images/twelve-commandments-of-the-soldier-lao-1958.jpg)

# Twelve Commandments of the Soldier (Lao poster distributed in Vientiane)

A twelve-panel comic-strip poster in Lao showing a beret-wearing soldier following twelve rules of conduct: shaking hands with villagers, paying for a purchase, helping an elderly woman carry goods, attending a medical clinic with a child, and carrying water to a burning village. A saluting soldier and an emblem head the sheet. The tell is glittering generalities and plain folks: virtue words and everyday scenes of a soldier among villagers present the army as disciplined and helpful.

## Propaganda techniques used in this poster

[Glittering generalities](https://propagandaarchive.org/techniques/glittering-generalities/) [Plain folks](https://propagandaarchive.org/techniques/plain-folks/)

## Text on the object

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

```
[Lao title, read as: Twelve Commandments of the Soldier] ສິນ ໑໒ ຂໍ້ ຂອງທະຫານ

Panels numbered ໑ to ໑໒, each with a Lao caption: [illegible]

Bottom banner: ສິນ ໑໒ ຂໍ້ ຂອງທະຫານ ທີ່ຈະຕ້ອງປະຕິບັດຢ່າງເຄັ່ງຄັດ ໃນທຸກໆໂອກາດ
```

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

```
Title: The Twelve Commandments of the Soldier. Bottom banner: The twelve commandments of the soldier, which must be strictly observed on every occasion. Panel captions not translated (illegible in the scan).
```

Panel captions are too small to read reliably in the scan; title and banner transcribed in best reading of the Lao script and may contain spelling errors.

[← I'll be glad to move over, Sherm](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/ill-be-glad-to-move-over-sherm-1958/) [Roadblock...Or Repair Work Ahead? →](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/roadblock-or-repair-work-ahead-1958/)

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