The American “I Want You” poster featuring Uncle Sam was, as its creator James Montgomery Flagg pointed out, one of the most well known posters in the world. There were over four million copies made between the years of 1917 and 1918 alone. and due to its overwhelming popularity during the First World War, it was also used during WWII.
The Americans took the idea for the poster from the British who had a similar but less popular version featuring Lord Kitchener, who was England’s Secretary of State for War during WWI. On the poster Kitchener is pointing his finger at the audience and big letters under him read, “Kitchener Wants You, Join Your Country's Army!, God Save The King.” The Americans replaced Kitchener with Uncle Sam and modified the message to say I Want You For The U.S. Army, Nearest recruiting station.
One of the reasons behind the American version's popularity compared to its British counterpart is that the Americans used Uncle Sam who was an icon representing the American people. This may have spurred greater patriotism, while the British use of Kitchener only represented the military.
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