Content note: US wartime poster with a racial caricature of a Japanese figure beside a caricature of Hitler, shown as published. This object is shown as it was published. Why
Germany and Japan Behind Bars (Spanish-language Allied flags poster, no printed title)
Dozens of Allied national flags on tall poles form a cage, and behind its bars two caricatured figures cringe: one with a toothbrush moustache and swastika armband, the other drawn with exaggerated teeth, round glasses and a naval uniform. The caricature is the name-calling tell, and the ring of many nations' flags is the bandwagon appeal that the Allied side is large and united.
Propaganda techniques used in this poster
- Date
- 1942
- Period
- Second World War
- Made by
- Office of the Coordinator of Inter-American Affairs (El Coordinador de Asuntos Interamericanos), Washington; artist Ontiveros
- Region
- North America
- Country
- United States
- Medium
- Poster
- Issuer type
- State
- Regime
- Roosevelt Administration
- Leader
- Franklin D. Roosevelt
- Audience
- Foreign public
- Purpose
- Persuade or win support
- Themes
- War and the military, Race and ethnicity
- Event
- World War II
- Regime
- Roosevelt administration
- Leader
- Franklin D. Roosevelt
- 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 (US federal government work)
Office of the Coordinator of Inter-American Affairs; artist Ontiveros. U.S. National Archives, Record Group 44.
Text on the object
Publicado por El Coordinador de Asuntos Interamericanos, Washington, E.U.A. 551404 Ontiveros
Published by the Coordinator of Inter-American Affairs, Washington, U.S.A. 551404 Ontiveros
