In honor of the upcoming 4th of July celebration, I thought it might be appropriate to consider the origins of Uncle Sam. Created by James Montgomery Flagg (1877-1960), the famous Uncle Sam recruiting poster is one of the most popular images representing the United States and patriotism. But where did Uncle Sam come from?
One clue as to Uncle Sam’s identity are his initials, U.S. A story says that during the War of 1812, a Sam Wilson was the meat supplier for the United States Army. Wilson marked U.S. on his meat barrels to show who the meat belonged to, but the soldiers referred to the meat man as Uncle Sam. This story is really not confirmable but there is an Uncle Sam Memorial Statue in Arlington, Massachusetts in honor of Sam Wilson.
To encourage military recruitment during World War I, James Montgomery Flagg created his famous Uncle Sam I Want You! poster in 1917. Flagg used his own face as the model for Uncle Sam out of convenience. Uncle Sam also wears a top hat and clothing that are red, white and blue. Four million copies of this poster were produced during World War I, and the poster was again used for recruitment during World War II. James Montgomery Flagg’s portrait of Uncle Sam is now universally recognizable as the personification of the United States and represents a symbol of patriotism.
While James Montgomery Flagg’s name is not as well known as Norman Rockwell, during his day he was the top paid illustrator in the United States. Flagg studied art at the Art Students League of New York, the famous art school that has educated many famous artists including: Milton Avery, Romare Bearden, Thomas Hart Benton, Louise Bourgeois, Paul Cadmus, Alexander Calder, Helen Frankenthaler, Charles Dana Gibson, Al Held, Roy Lichtenstein and Norman Rockwell.
Flagg also went to England and France to study the great works of art history. Later, the artist went on to illustrate regularly for Judge, Life, Harper’s Weekly and Scribner’s Magazine. James Flagg was also a writer who published collections of limericks, novels, an autobiography and military promotional films. Flagg also wrote for and acted in silent films. Actor, writer, illustrator, Flagg seems to have done it all.
After World War I, Flagg continued to produce illustrations for McClures, Cosmopolitan, The Saturday Evening Post, Redbook, Collier’s, Ladies Home Journal and Photoplay. In a 1937 portrait of Flagg by his friend Willis Birchman it is written,
He says the difference between the artist and illustrator is that the latter knows how to draw, eats three square meals a day, and can pay for them.
Happy Independence Day everybody! You can browse the poster creations of James Montgomery Flagg here. Many of his posters are in the public domain and available for high-resolution download at the Library of Congress.
