Waving The Flagg

James Montgomery Flagg was 39 when the United States entered World War I in 1917, much too old to enlist. Instead, Flagg drew on what he did best, and in the process influenced not only the war effort but also the face of a country.

A leading illustrator of the time, Flagg’s dramatic creation of Uncle Sam exhorting “I Want You for U.S. Army” so resonated with the public that it became a recruitment marvel and one of the most enduring images of the 20th century.

Flagg didn’t invent