The United Service Flag. Each Star (290 in All) Represents a United Employee in the Armed Service
A service flag of the type hung by employers and families: a red border around a white field holding 290 small stars. The text beneath says each star represents 'a United Employe[e] now in the Armed' services. The tell is the flag format itself, which turns a head count of enlisted workers into a visible badge of the firm's membership in the war effort.
Propaganda techniques used in this poster
- Date
- 1917
- Period
- First World War
- Made by
- 'United' employer (not identified on the scan); filed in U.S. Food Administration records
- Region
- North America
- Country
- United States
- Medium
- Poster
- Issuer type
- Corporation
- Regime
- Wilson Administration
- Leader
- Woodrow Wilson
- Audience
- Domestic public
- Purpose
- Commemorate
- Themes
- Home front, War and the military, Labor
- Event
- World War I
- Regime
- Wilson administration
- Leader
- Woodrow Wilson
- Source
- Identified Openly sourced: the speaker is who they say they are
- Source
- U.S. National Archives (NARA), RG 4 (U.S. Food Administration), World War I Posters (NAID 512439), retrieved October 3, 2026
- Rights
- NARA Unrestricted; hosted by owner decision
'United' employer (not identified on the scan). National Archives and Records Administration, 4-P-162.
Text on the object
THE UNITED SERVICE FLAG [flag with 290 stars] Each Star (290 in all) represents a United Employe now in the Armed [line cut off at foot of scan]
'Employe' is the spelling as printed. The last line is cut off; NARA's title continues 'Service of the United States.'
