Britishers Enlist Today – PERSUASIVE WEAPONS

Title	Britishers Enlist Today
Creator	Guy Lipscombe
Date	1917
Format	27 x 41 in
Description	Guy Lipscombe’s poster calling for British expats in the U.S. to enlist in the military is an excellent case study in the evolution of British propaganda throughout WWI. As several of the posters in this collection demonstrate, early British propaganda emphasized words over images and thus struggled to effectively capture the persuasive potential of the visual medium. However, this poster by Lipscombe, published in 1917, is a far more balanced and simplified example of war propaganda. The poster contains a vibrant and reflective illustration of the Union Jack flag with words “BRITISHERS” at the top, and “ENLIST TO-DAY” at the bottom. In other iterations of the poster, the brilliant image of the flag touching the ground remains, but the words “It’s Our Flag” are printed on the top, and “Fight for it” or “Work for it” appear on the bottom.
Copyright and Terms	Images are in the public domain or protected under U.S. copyright law (Title 17, U.S. Code), and both types may be used for research and private study. For publication, commercial use, or reproduction, in print or digital format, of all images and/or the accompanying data, users are required to secure prior written permission from the copyright holder and from archives@ua.edu. When permission is granted, please credit the images as Courtesy of The University of Alabama Libraries Special Collections.