Uphold our Honor – PERSUASIVE WEAPONS

Title	Uphold our Honor
Creator
Date	1917
Format	30 x 40 in
Description	Many propaganda posters recruit viewers to enlist in specific branches of the military, but this poster featuring the allegorical figure of Columbia in a flowing white gown holding a large American flag in one hand and gesturing toward the sky with the other, does not discriminate between the branches, and simply asks that viewers “JOIN” the Army, Navy, or Marines. Although Columbia is sometimes depicted as a powerful warrior equipped with armor and a sword, in this image, she is given a far more frail and vulnerable personification. The implied dependence on masculine protection is solidified textually with the command to “UPHOLD OUR HONOR” and “FIGHT FOR US,” two statements that can be interpreted as suggesting that men must serve in order to defend white women from the physical advances of the enemy, an argument that was regularly forwarded in propaganda posters and films.
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