Your rags will help in the fight: Start your rag bag now, don't leave it to others
A rolled military map of Sicily and southern Italy is paired with a blue panel showing a battledress blouse, beret-like cap and rope, above text saying scraps of cloth, wool, rope and string make maps, blankets and battledress. The front-line map links a household chore to a named campaign (transfer), and the last line, 'Don't leave it to others', adds a personal duty.
Propaganda techniques used in this poster
- Date
- 1943
- Period
- Second World War
- Made by
- H.M. Stationery Office (salvage campaign), printed by Fosh & Cross Ltd., London
- Region
- Western and Central Europe
- Country
- United Kingdom
- Medium
- Poster
- Issuer type
- State
- Regime
- Churchill Government
- Leader
- Winston Churchill
- Audience
- Domestic public
- Purpose
- Mobilize or secure compliance
- Themes
- Home front, Economy and finance
- Event
- World War II
- 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)
H.M. Stationery Office, London, c. 1943; printer Fosh & Cross Ltd. U.S. National Archives, Record Group 44.
Text on the object
Your rags will help in the fight THE SMALLEST 'BITS AND PIECES' OF CLOTH, WOOL, ROPE AND STRING HELP TO MAKE MAPS, BLANKETS AND BATTLEDRESS START YOUR RAG BAG NOW DON'T LEAVE IT TO OTHERS PRINTED FOR H.M. STATIONERY OFFICE BY FOSH & CROSS LTD., LONDON. 51-3519 [map labels:] Tyrrhenian Sea; Lipari Is.; Sicily; Messina; Catania; Reggio; Cosenza; Catanzara; Potenza; Bari; Taranto
