WW1 Posters & First World War Prints

A finger pointing straight out of the picture. A face that seems to be waiting for your answer. First World War posters could make an appeal feel intensely personal.

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.

1917 Italian WWI propaganda poster Il Lavoro for the Prestito Nazionale war loan, G. Buccaro

These WW1 poster prints cover recruitment, war finance, food and public effort, with designs from Britain, America, France and Italy. Kitchener and Uncle Sam make direct demands; other images ask people to lend, produce or conserve. Together they show how an argument became something recognisable at a glance, with illustration and lettering doing a remarkable amount of persuading.

These WW1 propaganda posters were made to recruit, to raise money and to keep a country fed. For recruitment alone, see WW1 recruitment posters. For the story of the most famous one, read Lord Kitchener Wants You.

More than the recruiting finger

Recruitment gives First World War poster design some of its best known faces, but the public was asked for much more than military service. Financial campaigns, food appeals and industrial work also needed participation. A poster could speak to someone who could enlist, someone who could lend money, or someone whose contribution took place at home or in a workplace.

The selection includes Liberty Loan and Liberty Bonds designs, French war finance imagery and an Italian Prestito Nazionale poster. Teamwork Builds Ships introduces an industrial subject; food administration and bread saving designs bring the appeal into daily routines. Victory Loan material from 1919 extends the story into the immediate aftermath of the war.

British and American recruitment imagery

Alfred Leete’s Kitchener image and James Montgomery Flagg’s Uncle Sam design make useful companions because both address the viewer so directly. The figure, gaze and pointing hand establish a relationship before the wording completes the request.

The particular version matters. The Kitchener listing reproduces the London Opinion image, which has its own publication history. Read the story behind the 1914 Kitchener image for a closer account, then compare the artwork with other recruitment designs in the selection.

Choose a connection worth examining

For a historical display, you might compare recruitment with war finance, or follow one country’s appeals across different subjects. For a single print, consider both the design and the message that will occupy the room. A financial appeal, a food campaign and a direct enlistment request make different daily companions.

For later campaigns, continue to WW2 posters.