I Want You for U.S. Army

Why it works

Uncle Sam's stare and outstretched finger first appeared on the cover of Leslie's Weekly in July 1916, above the question "What Are You Doing for Preparedness?" When the United States entered the First World War, James Montgomery Flagg turned it into an Army recruiting poster, adapting the accusing pose from Alfred Leete's 1914 Kitchener design and using his own reflection, aged up, for Uncle Sam's face. Some four million copies were printed during the war, and it was revived with small changes for the Second World War. It is studied for how completely it confronts the individual: the eyes and finger follow the viewer, the copy speaks to "you" alone, and a blank space under "nearest recruiting station" turns the poster into an instruction. The Library of Congress calls it probably the best-known American war recruiting poster and one of the most imitated, and it has been parodied endlessly ever since.