--- title: 'Red Cross posters: WW1 and WW2 fundraising, nursing and blood donor appeals' url: https://propagandaarchive.org/red-cross-posters/ description: 'Red Cross posters from WW1 and WW2: war funds, nurse recruiting and blood donor appeals from the US, Britain and others, with sources and rights shown.' section: FRAME --- ![Illustration: a dossier collage of an evidence wall of pinned propaganda posters, leaflets and printed matter from many eras, with contact sheets and catalog labels.](https://propagandaarchive.org/static/generated/hero-collection.jpg) Collection # Red Cross posters: WW1 and WW2 fundraising, nursing and blood donor appeals Red Cross posters from WW1 and WW2: war funds, nurse recruiting and blood donor appeals from the US, Britain and others, with sources and rights shown. 1. [Home](https://propagandaarchive.org/) 2. [Collection](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/) 3. Red Cross posters [![Unser Kaiser an sein Volk (Our Emperor to His People)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/images/unser-kaiser-an-sein-volk-1914-640.jpg)Unser Kaiser an sein Volk (Our Emperor to His People)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/unser-kaiser-an-sein-volk-1914/) [![Nurses of America, Humanity Calls You. What Is Your Answer?](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/images/nurses-of-america-humanity-calls-you-1917-640.jpg)Nurses of America, Humanity Calls You. What Is Your Answer?](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/nurses-of-america-humanity-calls-you-1917/) [![India Restores Her War Cripples to Self-Support (Red Cross Institute exhibit poster)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/images/india-restores-war-cripples-red-cross-1919.jpg)India Restores Her War Cripples to Self-Support (Red Cross Institute exhibit poster)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/india-restores-war-cripples-red-cross-1919/) [![Blood Donors Wanted - Your Blood Can Save the Life of Someone...Somewhere](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/images/uk-blood-donors-wanted-someone-somewhere-1939-640.jpg)Blood Donors Wanted - Your Blood Can Save the Life of Someone...Somewhere](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/uk-blood-donors-wanted-someone-somewhere-1939/) [![Give your blood to save a life](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/images/give-your-blood-to-save-a-life-red-cross-1941-640.jpg)Give your blood to save a life](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/give-your-blood-to-save-a-life-red-cross-1941/) [![Work, Save, Fight and so Avenge the Nurses! (Centaur poster)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/images/work-save-fight-avenge-the-nurses-1943.jpg)Work, Save, Fight and so Avenge the Nurses! (Centaur poster)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/work-save-fight-avenge-the-nurses-1943/) > **Content note.** One German print here (1914) presents the war as a defence against envious rivals, and an Australian poster of 1943 uses a hospital-ship sinking to call for revenge. Both are shown as issued. Showing an item is not endorsing it. [What were Red Cross posters for?](https://propagandaarchive.org/red-cross-posters/#what-were-red-cross-posters-for) [World War I](https://propagandaarchive.org/red-cross-posters/#world-war-i-funds-members-and-nurses) [World War II](https://propagandaarchive.org/red-cross-posters/#world-war-ii-blood-donors) [Nursing and relief work, 1939 to 1945](https://propagandaarchive.org/red-cross-posters/#nursing-and-relief-work-1939-to-1945) [What the collection does not hold](https://propagandaarchive.org/red-cross-posters/#what-the-collection-does-not-hold) ## What were Red Cross posters for? Red Cross posters of the two world wars asked the public for money, members, trained nurses and, in the Second World War, blood. Most here were issued by the American Red Cross; others come from Britain, Belgium, Germany, Australia and South Africa. The emblem itself did much of the persuading, which the technique tag calls [Transfer](https://propagandaarchive.org/techniques/transfer/). ![Poster, 1918: a nurse in a white veil cradles a wounded soldier in the pose of a Madonna and child beside a large red cross](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/images/greatest-mother-in-the-world-red-cross-nara-1918.jpg) ## World War I: funds, members and nurses The American sheets of 1917 and 1918 are often just a red cross and a few lines. "If You Knew a Day's Pay Would Save a Life" turns a donation into a life saved, and "A Little Starving Child Brought Back to Life" ties one sacrifice to one rescue; both name the Second War Fund of 1918. "The Greatest Mother in the World" borrows religious imagery for the organisation, and "Nurses of America, Humanity Calls You" ([Glittering generalities](https://propagandaarchive.org/techniques/glittering-generalities/)) recruits for Army and Navy service. ![Poster, 1914: Saint George drives his lance into a dragon above the Kaiser's address, sold for the benefit of the Red Cross](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/images/unser-kaiser-an-sein-volk-1914.jpg) Explain moreShow less Other belligerents used the same emblem. A London poster for the Belgian Red Cross gives a nurse an angel's wings in front of the Belgian flag. In Germany, a Red Cross welfare postcard of 1914 prints a named general under the slogan "A People in Arms against a World in Arms", and a benefit print sold for the Red Cross carries the Kaiser's address of 31 July 1914 under a Saint George. ![Poster, 1941 to 1945: a painted wounded soldier with a plasma bottle hung from a rifle, with a dedication label to sign](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/images/now-dedicate-your-blood-1941.jpg) ## World War II: blood donors The American Red Cross Blood Donor Service tied the gift to a soldier: "Now dedicate your blood to a man overseas!" shows a plasma package with a label to sign. A 1943 press sheet, "Lives saved by plasma", gave local papers named patients and surgeons-general to quote ([Testimonial](https://propagandaarchive.org/techniques/testimonial/)). Explain moreShow less British government posters of the same war, several by Abram Games, set small cost against large benefit ("30 minutes of your time, a lifetime to somebody else", [Card stacking](https://propagandaarchive.org/techniques/card-stacking/)), ask "If he should fall, is your blood there to save him?" ([Fear appeal](https://propagandaarchive.org/techniques/fear-appeal/)) and thank the donor with a patient on the road to recovery ([Plain folks](https://propagandaarchive.org/techniques/plain-folks/)). ![Poster, 1941: a nurse in white cradles the head of a wounded soldier lying beside his rifle in barbed wire](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/images/fighting-men-need-nurses-red-cross-1941.jpg) ## Nursing and relief work, 1939 to 1945 "Fighting Men Need Nurses" (1941) sends readers to a Red Cross recruiting station. State bodies ran parallel campaigns: the U.S. Cadet Nurse Corps and Army Nurse Corps, and a British poster, "Make Nursing Your War Job". A 1943 Red Cross poster shows its uniformed workers beside the Military Welfare badge. In Australia, "Work, Save, Fight and so Avenge the Nurses!" shows the hospital ship Centaur, sunk on 14 May 1943 with 268 dead, 11 of the 12 nurses aboard among them. A South African Red Cross sheet of 1939 on the house-fly shows the emblem lending authority to plain health instruction. ## What the collection does not hold - **Not here:** Red Cross posters after 1945, and posters from the Red Crescent societies. - **Not here:** French, Russian, Japanese and Italian Red Cross appeals of either war. - **Not here:** figures for money raised or blood given by any campaign. Sources and further reading ## Sources U.S. National Archives (World War I and World War II poster series), Library of Congress, Australian War Memorial and Europeana… U.S. National Archives (World War I and World War II poster series), Library of Congress, Australian War Memorial and Europeana 1914-1918. Each item in the grid carries its own source, date basis and rights note. ## Red Cross, blood donor and nursing appeals in the collection Showing 23 of 23 objects. [Filter the whole collection](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/). - [Unser Kaiser an sein Volk (Our Emperor to His People)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/unser-kaiser-an-sein-volk-1914/) (German Empire · 1914 · Transfer) - [Ein Volk in Waffen gegen eine Welt in Waffen (A People in Arms against a World in Arms), Red Cross welfare postcard](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/ein-volk-in-waffen-haeseler-red-cross-postcard-1914/) (German Empire · Sep 11, 1914 · Testimonial, Transfer) - [Belgian Red Cross (donations poster, London)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/belgian-red-cross-buchel-1915/) (Belgium · 1915 · Transfer) - [Help the Red Cross](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/help-the-red-cross-1917/) (United States · 1917 · Transfer) - [Nurses of America, Humanity Calls You. What Is Your Answer?](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/nurses-of-america-humanity-calls-you-1917/) (United States · 1917 · Glittering generalities, Transfer) - [The Greatest Mother in the World](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/greatest-mother-in-the-world-red-cross-nara-1918/) (United States · 1918 · Transfer, Glittering generalities) - [If You Knew a Day's Pay Would Save a Life, Would You Give One Day a Month?](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/if-you-knew-a-days-pay-would-save-a-life-red-cross-1918/) (United States · 1918 · Transfer) - [A Little Starving Child Brought Back to Life Because You Went Without Some Luxury](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/little-starving-child-red-cross-war-fund-1918/) (United States · 1918 · Transfer) - [India Restores Her War Cripples to Self-Support (Red Cross Institute exhibit poster)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/india-restores-war-cripples-red-cross-1919/) (United States · 1919 · Card stacking) - [The South African Red Cross Society / Die Suid-Afrikaanse Rooikruisvereniging (house-fly life cycle)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/south-africa-red-cross-fly-life-cycle-1939/) (South Africa · 1939 · Transfer) - [Make Nursing Your War Job - It's War Work with a Future](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/make-nursing-your-war-job-uk-1939/) (United Kingdom · 1939 · Glittering generalities) - [The Army Blood Transfusion Service Needs Blood Donors ('If he should fall, is your blood there to save him?')](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/uk-army-blood-transfusion-if-he-should-fall-games-1939/) (United Kingdom · 1939 · Fear appeal) - [Blood Donors Now - 30 Minutes of Your Time, a Lifetime to Somebody Else](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/uk-blood-donors-now-abram-games-1939/) (United Kingdom · 1939 · Card stacking) - [Blood Donors Wanted - Your Blood Can Save the Life of Someone...Somewhere](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/uk-blood-donors-wanted-someone-somewhere-1939/) (United Kingdom · 1939 · Identity fusion) - [On the Road to Recovery - Thanks to You Blood Donor](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/uk-thanks-to-you-blood-donor-1939/) (United Kingdom · 1939 · Plain folks) - [Fighting Men Need Nurses](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/fighting-men-need-nurses-red-cross-1941/) (United States · 1941 · Transfer) - [Give](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/give-red-cross-kauffer-1941/) (United States · 1941 · Transfer) - [Give your blood to save a life](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/give-your-blood-to-save-a-life-red-cross-1941/) (United States · 1941 · Transfer, Glittering generalities) - [Now dedicate your blood to a man overseas!](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/now-dedicate-your-blood-1941/) (United States · 1941 · Transfer, Plain folks) - [Enlist in a Proud Profession! Join the U.S. Cadet Nurse Corps](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/enlist-in-a-proud-profession-cadet-nurse-corps-portrait-1943/) (United States · 1943 · Glittering generalities, Transfer) - [Lives saved by plasma](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/lives-saved-by-plasma-red-cross-1943/) (United States · 1943 · Testimonial, Transfer). Content note: Newspaper-format sheet with photographs of wounded servicemen, including one blood-stained wounded man receiving a transfusion, and period wartime wording for the Japanese enemy in the text. - [In camp and overseas, Red Cross workers serve our fighting forces](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/red-cross-workers-serve-1943/) (United States · 1943 · Transfer) - [Work, Save, Fight and so Avenge the Nurses! (Centaur poster)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/work-save-fight-avenge-the-nurses-1943/) (Australia · 1943 · Transfer) ## Related guides and pages - [American propaganda posters: US examples by technique](https://propagandaarchive.org/american-propaganda-posters/) - [Uncle Sam posters: the I Want You poster and what else he was used for](https://propagandaarchive.org/american-propaganda-posters/uncle-sam-poster/) - [Women's suffrage posters and cartoons, 1880 to 1923](https://propagandaarchive.org/womens-suffrage-posters/) - [WPA posters: New Deal and wartime posters, 1936 to 1943](https://propagandaarchive.org/wpa-posters/) - [Civil War propaganda: 1860 and 1864 election prints](https://propagandaarchive.org/civil-war-propaganda/) - [Presidential campaign posters: US banners and prints, 1840 to 1900](https://propagandaarchive.org/presidential-campaign-posters/) - [Spanish-American War propaganda: yellow press, Maine and cartoons](https://propagandaarchive.org/spanish-american-war-propaganda/) - [Victory garden posters: WWI war gardens, WWII victory gardens, Dig for Victory](https://propagandaarchive.org/victory-garden-posters/) - [Christmas propaganda posters: war bonds, Santa and mail-early appeals](https://propagandaarchive.org/christmas-propaganda-posters/) - [Space race propaganda: Sputnik cartoons and US space posters, 1957 to 1969](https://propagandaarchive.org/space-race-propaganda/) - [All guides](https://propagandaarchive.org/guides/)