Remember Dec. 7th!
Office of War Information poster, 1942
NMAH Armed Forces History Collection
Gift of Darwin R. Martin

In times of war, the flag has often been used to rally support for the nation’s cause, stir patriotic emotions, and propel citizens to act. This poster by artist Allen Saalburg was commissioned in 1942 by the Office of War Information, a federal agency created to promote the wartime activities and policies of the U.S. government. Using poignant words from Abraham Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address,“... we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain ...,“ the poster suggested that the nation, once threatened by civil war, now faced another historic challenge.

The powerful image of the tattered flag flying at half-staff appealed to Americans to remember the grief and outrage they felt after Pearl Harbor and to channel those emotions into action.