Cold War Propaganda Posters

The Cold War had a lot to say. It was rarely interested in a second opinion.

Digitally restored reproductions from £19.99, printed on 200gsm Enhanced Matte Fine Art Paper with pigment inks. Printed locally and shipped from the UK, US and Canada. Supplied unframed.

1967 Soviet propaganda poster showing Lenin in grey suit against red hammer and sickle flag, Mayakovsky quote, Viktor Ivanov

The Cold War propaganda posters here bring together Soviet visions of progress, Chinese political imagery, the space race and campaigns against nuclear weapons. A rocket might promise a magnificent future; another image might suggest that the future is in considerable danger. Read the slogan, then look at the choices behind it: who gets to be heroic, where the threat sits, how colour tells you what to feel.

The space race gets its own corner. Sputnik, Gagarin and the Voskhod spacewalk all made it onto posters, usually with a red flag not far away. See the full set in Soviet space posters.

Competing pictures of the future

The Cold War played out in images as well as speeches and policy. Space exploration could become evidence of a political system’s success. Workers and young people could stand for a country’s future. An opponent could be reduced to a symbol, a caricature or an approaching danger.

The collection includes Soviet labour and party imagery alongside cosmonauts and rockets. Chinese subjects place military and political themes within the same broader period. Other designs complicate the picture: the Stop H Bomb Poison election poster and the Nuclear Death vs Peace design put the fear of nuclear destruction at the centre of the appeal.

Space, peace and political argument

Space race posters link scientific achievement with a political argument. The subject may be a spacecraft or a cosmonaut, but the surrounding words and symbols ask the viewer to connect that achievement with something larger. The Soviet space poster collection lets you follow that particular thread.

Peace imagery makes another useful comparison. Look at the way a design defines danger and who it imagines can prevent it. An appeal to peace can carry its own political assumptions. Reading the slogan alongside the picture is essential to understanding what is being proposed.

Compare before you choose

For a study or a group of historical prints, pair works through a question: how is progress represented, who speaks for peace, or what does the future look like? That gives two images a useful relationship even when their styles differ. Compare the date and campaign information on each product page before treating them as direct counterparts.

For a broader view of one country’s poster design, continue to Soviet propaganda posters. The War & Propaganda collection includes material from other periods as well.