Forensic Research Archive of Manipulation and Exploitation
Ranks and Insignia of the British Armed Forces [2], 1943 UK poster: The other side of the sheet shows Royal Navy and Merchant

Ranks and Insignia of the British Armed Forces [2]

The other side of the sheet shows Royal Navy and Merchant Navy insignia (printed upside down) and a cover panel with narrative text on the Navy, Army and RAF giving figures such as ships sunk, tons of bombs dropped and enemy aircraft destroyed. The tell is card-stacking: only British successes and totals are listed, with no losses or setbacks except a ship-loss rate of under one half percent.

Propaganda techniques used in this poster

Card stacking
Date
1943
Period
Second World War
Made by
British Information Services, 30 Rockefeller Plaza, New York (an agency of the British Government)
Region
Western and Central Europe
Country
United Kingdom
Medium
Poster
Issuer type
State
Regime
Churchill Government
Leader
Winston Churchill
Audience
Foreign public
Purpose
Persuade or win support
Theme
War and the military
Event
World War II
Regime
Churchill wartime government
Leader
Winston Churchill
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 Foreign Posters, retrieved October 3, 2026
Rights
UK Crown copyright or unstated rights holder, published 1939-1945; held by NARA, Unrestricted; hosted by owner decision
British Information Services, New York. National Archives and Records Administration, 44-PF-367.

Text on the object

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

RANKS AND
INSIGNIA
OF THE
BRITISH
ARMED
FORCES

PUBLISHED MAY, 1943 BY
BRITISH INFORMATION SERVICES
An Agency of the British Government
30 ROCKEFELLER PLAZA • NEW YORK CITY

THE ROYAL NAVY
Britain has had to send supplies by a sea route of 11,000 miles to its Armies in the Middle East. In 1941, 300 ships were continuously engaged in this task. 3,000,000 tons of military stores (including 1,000,000 tons of food) had been landed by April 1942 in Egyptian ports alone. [...]

[text continues in four further columns on British Navy, Army and RAF achievements; not transcribed in full here]

[insignia labels (upside down) include:] MERCHANT NAVY; ROYAL NAVY; CAPTAIN; CHIEF ENGINEER; RADIO OFFICER; ADMIRAL OF THE FLEET; COMMODORE; MIDSHIPMAN; CADET

More propaganda examples that use the same techniques

Fragments of the Abydos king list from Ramesses II's temple, in the British Museum: rows of royal cartouchesNew Kingdom EgyptFragments of the Abydos king list from Ramesses II's temple, in the British Museum: rows of royal cartouches0000 · Card stacking, TransferBehistun (Bisotun) rock relief and trilingual inscription of Darius I: the king, two attendants and the bound rebel leaders beneath the winged figure of AhuramazdaAchaemenid EmpireBehistun (Bisotun) rock relief and trilingual inscription of Darius I: the king, two attendants and the bound rebel leaders beneath the winged figure of Ahuramazda0000 · Card stacking, Name-calling, TestimonialContent noteTomb of Darius I at Naqsh-e Rustam: the king in relief beside his inscription DNa, c. 490 BCEAchaemenid EmpireTomb of Darius I at Naqsh-e Rustam: the king in relief beside his inscription DNa, c. 490 BCE0000 · Testimonial, Card stackingLine drawing of the Great Kadesh battle relief on the walls of the Ramesseum, from Breasted's History of EgyptNew Kingdom EgyptLine drawing of the Great Kadesh battle relief on the walls of the Ramesseum, from Breasted's History of Egypt0000 · Card stacking, TransferContent notePersepolis, Apadana staircase relief: a figure with an animal from a procession of delegations, early fifth century BCEAchaemenid EmpirePersepolis, Apadana staircase relief: a figure with an animal from a procession of delegations, early fifth century BCE0000 · Card stacking, Manufactured consensusAlabaster relief, Assyrian troops storming a citadel, from Nineveh (reign of Sennacherib)Neo Assyrian EmpireAlabaster relief, Assyrian troops storming a citadel, from Nineveh (reign of Sennacherib)0000 · Card stackingContent noteColour lithograph of the Latin text of the Res Gestae Divi Augusti on the wall of the temple of Roma and Augustus at Ancyra, with the heading in large letters (Perrot, Guillaume and Delbet, 1872)Roman EmpireColour lithograph of the Latin text of the Res Gestae Divi Augusti on the wall of the temple of Roma and Augustus at Ancyra, with the heading in large letters (Perrot, Guillaume and Delbet, 1872)0014 · Card stacking, Glittering generalitiesSilver denarius of Vespasian, reverse IVDAEA with a trophy of arms and a seated mourning womanRoman EmpireSilver denarius of Vespasian, reverse IVDAEA with a trophy of arms and a seated mourning woman0070 · Card stackingContent note