Forensic Research Archive of Manipulation and Exploitation
The Signal is Save, 1939 UK poster: An aerial photograph of a warship under way is overlaid with four signal flags that spell

The Signal is Save

An aerial photograph of a warship under way is overlaid with four signal flags that spell S-A-V-E, above yellow text 'The signal is SAVE'. The navy's image and the language of the fleet's signalling are borrowed to give personal saving the weight of a naval order (transfer).

Propaganda techniques used in this poster

Transfer
Date
1939
Period
Second World War
Made by
National Savings Committee (London), Scottish Savings Committee (Edinburgh) and Ulster Savings Committee (Belfast); printed for HMSO by Wm Brown & Co., Ltd.
Region
Western and Central Europe
Country
United Kingdom
Medium
Poster
Issuer type
State
Regime
Churchill Government
Leader
Winston Churchill
Audience
Domestic public
Purpose
Fundraise
Themes
Economy and finance, 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
Public domain (UK Crown copyright, 50 years from publication, expired before 1996; no URAA restoration)
National Savings Committee / HMSO / Wm. Brown & Co., c. 1939-1945. U.S. National Archives, NAID 44267221 (44-PF-452).

Text on the object

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

THE SIGNAL IS SAVE

W.F.P. 176-Issued by the National Savings Committee, London, Scottish Savings Committee, Edinburgh, and the Ulster Savings Committee, Belfast
Printed for H.M. Stationery Office by Wm Brown & Co. Ltd., London E.C.3 51-1122

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