---
title: We will uphold the priceless gem of liberty. Shall we help to crush tyranny? (Canadian recruiting poster)
url: https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/we-will-uphold-priceless-gem-of-liberty-canada-1915/
description: A young soldier in khaki stands at attention between two large Union Jacks, framed by maple leaves, under a four-line verse about the soldier's 'wealth'…
section: Collection
---

[Collection](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/)

[![We will uphold the priceless gem of liberty. Shall we help to crush tyranny? (Canadian recruiting poster)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/images/we-will-uphold-priceless-gem-of-liberty-canada-1915.jpg)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/images/we-will-uphold-priceless-gem-of-liberty-canada-1915.jpg)

# We will uphold the priceless gem of liberty. Shall we help to crush tyranny? (Canadian recruiting poster)

A young soldier in khaki stands at attention between two large Union Jacks, framed by maple leaves, under a four-line verse about the soldier's 'wealth' being honour. The headline and closing question rest on abstractions ('the priceless gem of liberty', 'tyranny'), which are not tied to any concrete claim (glittering generalities), and the flags and verse lend imperial and poetic prestige to enlisting (transfer).

- **Date:** 1915
- **Period:** [First World War](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/#era=wwi)
- **Made by:** Canadian recruiting for the Canadian Expeditionary Force (sponsor not named; printed by the Gazette Printing Co. Limited, Montreal)
- **Region:** [North America](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/#region=north-america)
- **Country:** [Canada](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/#country=canada)
- **Medium:** [Poster](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/#medium=poster)
- **Issuer type:** [Mixed](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/#actor=mixed)
- **Regime:** [Borden Government](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/#regime=borden-government)
- **Leader:** [Robert Laird Borden](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/#leader=robert-laird-borden)
- **Audience:** [Domestic public](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/#audience=domestic-public)
- **Purpose:** [Recruit](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/#purpose=recruit)
- **Theme:** [War and the military](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/#theme=war-military)
- **Event:** [World War I](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/#event=world-war-i)
- **Techniques:** [Glittering generalities](https://propagandaarchive.org/techniques/glittering-generalities/) [Transfer](https://propagandaarchive.org/techniques/transfer/)
- **Source:** Identified Openly sourced: the speaker is who they say they are
- **Source:** [Library of Congress](https://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/2005696912/), retrieved September 29, 2026
- **Rights:** Public domain (published 1914-18, before 1931; LOC: no known restrictions on publication) Gazette Printing Co., Limited, Montreal. [between 1914 and 1918]. Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division, LC-USZC4-12561 (call no. POS - CAN .A01, no. 31).

## Text on the object

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

```
WE WILL UPHOLD THE PRICELESS GEM OF LIBERTY
" For Gold the Merchant Ploughs the Main
The Farmer tills the Manor
But Glory is the Soldier's Prize
The Soldier's Wealth is Honour"

SHALL WE HELP TO CRUSH TYRANNY?
APPLY AT RECRUITING STATION

Printed by GAZETTE PRINTING CO. LIMITED, Montreal, Canada
```

The photographed copy is bordered by Kodak colour and gray-scale calibration strips added for archival photography, not part of the original poster.

[← The Serbian Relief Fund: Begs Aid for Our Brave Ally (1d charity stamp)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/serbian-relief-fund-begs-aid-stamp-1915/) [Winox anti-German poster stamps: Zeppelin, Edith Cavell, "Kultur", Lusitania (Britain, 1915) →](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/winox-anti-german-poster-stamps-1915/)

## Using the same techniques

- [Gold solidus of Constantine I, reverse RESTITVTORI LIBERTATIS](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/solidus-constantine-i-restitutori-libertatis-0313/) (0313 · Glittering generalities)
- [Gold solidus of Justinian I, reverse VICTORIA AVGGG with Victory holding a Christogram staff](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/solidus-justinian-i-victoria-avggg-0538/) (0538 · Transfer, Glittering generalities)
- [Frontispiece to Eikon Basilike, The Pourtraicture of His Sacred Majestie in his Solitudes and Sufferings (Hollar, 1649)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/eikon-basilike-frontispiece-hollar-1649/) (1649 · Transfer, Glittering generalities)
- [Trois Tetes sous l'meme bonnet (three heads under the same cap)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/trois-tetes-sous-le-meme-bonnet-1789/) (1789 · Plain folks, Glittering generalities)
- [Proclamation by the Queen in Council, to the Princes, Chiefs, and People of India (printed sheet, Allahabad, 1 November 1858)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/queens-proclamation-to-the-people-of-india-1858/) (Nov 1, 1858 · Glittering generalities, Scapegoating)
- [The Great Battle of Ansong Ford: The Valor of Captain Matsuzaki](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/ansong-ford-toshikata-1894/) (1894 · Glittering generalities)
- ['The Congress Cross or "Swastik"' (Pickings from the Hindi Punch, Bombay, February 1896)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/hindi-punch-congress-swastik-1896/) (Feb 1896 · Transfer, Glittering generalities)
- [Un combate en el río Zapote (A Fight on the Zapote River), Blanco y Negro](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/un-combate-en-el-rio-zapote-1898/) (Jul 9, 1898 · Transfer, Glittering generalities)