Uncle Sam

This article is about the national personification of the United States federal government. For its comic book adaptation, see Uncle Sam (comics). For other uses, see Uncle Sam (disambiguation).
J. M. Flagg's 1917 poster was based on the original British Lord Kitchener poster of three years earlier. It was used to recruit soldiers for both World War I and World War II into the US Army. Flagg used a modified version of his own face for Uncle Sam,[1] and veteran Walter Botts provided the pose.[2]

Uncle Sam (which has the same initials U.S. as United States) is a common national personification of the federal government of the United States or the country in general. Since the early 19th century, Uncle Sam has been a popular symbol of the U.S. government in American culture and a manifestation of patriotic emotion.[3] Uncle Sam has also developed notoriety for his appearance in military propaganda, popularized by a 1917 World War I recruiting poster by J. M. Flagg.[4]

According to legend, the character came into use during the War of 1812 and may have been named for Samuel Wilson. The actual origin is obscure.[5] The first reference to Uncle Sam in formal literature (as distinct from newspapers) was in the 1816 allegorical book The Adventures of Uncle Sam, in Search After His Lost Honor.[6]

While the figure of Uncle Sam specifically represents the government, the female figure of Columbia represents the United States as a nation. An archaic character, Brother Jonathan, was known to represent the American populace.

  1. ^ "The Most Famous Poster". American Treasures of the Library of Congress. Archived from the original on July 2, 2016.
  2. ^ "Walter Botts, the Man Who Modeled Uncle Sam's Pose for J.M. Flagg's Famous Poster". Archived from the original on November 19, 2017. Retrieved February 21, 2018.
  3. ^ Terry Allan Hicks (2006). Uncle Sam. Marshall Cavendish 2006, 40 pages. p. 9. ISBN 978-0761421375. Archived from the original on August 14, 2021. Retrieved August 1, 2015.
  4. ^ "What's the deal with Uncle Sam?". Archived from the original on January 21, 2022. Retrieved September 27, 2020.
  5. ^ Schauffler, Robert Haven (1912). Flag day; its history. New York : Moffat, Yard and Co. p. 145.
  6. ^ pp. 40–41 of Albert Matthews, "Uncle Sam". Proceedings of the American Antiquarian Society, v.19, 1908. pp. 21–65. Google Books Archived October 3, 2015, at the Wayback Machine