I Want You—to Have a Happy Birthday!

Artist James Montgomery Flagg, the face and artist behind Uncle Sam, was born on this date in 1877.

Born in Pelham Manor, New York, James Montgomery Flagg attended several art schools, including four years spent at the Art Students League in New York City. He worked prolifically in a number of media but is best remembered for his poster designs.

By the turn of the century, Flagg had created a reputation as a graphic designer and illustrator. When the United States entered World War I, he produced his I Want You for U.S. Army poster, which quickly became a household icon and one of the most enduring images of the twentieth century.

Although Flagg took the design from an earlier British work, he adapted it in a manner that immediately captured the American imagination. James Montgomery Flagg's 1917 version of Uncle Sam is actually a self-portrait.

The United States government used the poster for recruitment during World War I and again during World War II. Flagg's popular poster demonstrates the commanding effectiveness of a strong design and simple message.

To learn more about posters and American culture, visit our online exhibition Posters American Style.

Source: Therese Thau Heyman. Posters American Style (New York and Washington, D.C.: Harry N. Abrams, Inc., in association with the National Museum of American Art, 1998).

Pictured: James Montgomery Flagg, 1877–1960, I WANT YOU FOR U.S. ARMY, 1917, chromolithograph on paper, 39 1/2 x 29 1/8 in., Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Barry and Melissa Vilkin.