Posters Artwork Documents

Keep Calm and Carry On

H.M. Government

Now probably the most famous wartime propaganda poster, it is extraordinary to think that it was not even issued during WW2 and, in fact, was unknown to the public for some 60 years after its production. "Keep Calm" was designed as part of a three-poster "Home Publicity" campaign, planned by the British Ministry of Information in June-July, 1939, as war with Germany appeared a strong possibility. The first poster , similar in design to "Keep Calm", carried the message "Your Courage, Your Cheerfulness; Your Resolution; WILL BRING US VICTORY". The second in the series read "Freedom is in Peril; DEFEND IT WITH ALL YOUR MIGHT". "Keep Calm" was the third. The original intention appears to have been to issue the posters progressively as and if particular disasters of war (such as gas attacks or bombing) occurred; it appears that "Keep Calm" was to be reserved for the event of heavy bombing, of an invasion or of imminent invasion. In practice, the first and second posters were trialled on the outbreak of war, with posters being placed on public transport, in shops, on public notice boards and in other busy public locations. However, feedback on the campaign proved disappointing. The public in general took little notice, and those who did tended to react negatively, seeing the posters as patronizing and divisive. The first poster - "Your Courage etc" - received particular negative reaction, being viewed as extremely on the divisive/patronizing scale. The "you and us" aspect of the message was not appreciated by the people. As a result - and because of concerns over cost - the whole campaign was cancelled in October, 1939 - with some 2.5 million copies of "Keep Calm" alone already having been printed. That's the Civil Service for you. Stocks of the posters were eventually pulped in April, 1940 as part of the Paper Salvage campaign. And there it might have rested - until, in the year 2000, a copy was obtained by a bookseller at a car boot sale. How it got there, nobody knows. The bookshop in question first displayed it in the shop and subsequently followed up on the positive reaction from customers by commercializing it. Others also commercialized it. Naturally (at least in my world) a string of trademark and copyright disputes followed, most of which are not resolved. At the present time, the image has been accepted as an "image mark" by OHIM - the EU trademark office - in the name of one of the private companies commercializing the image. However, this is still open to challenge, and other trademark offices have shown distinct reluctance to register it (the UK Patents Office has outright refused). This one could run and run. In any event, these disputes have done nothing to prevent "Keep Calm" from becoming one of the best-known documents emerging from WW2 - even if, at the time, it had been seen only by civil servants and printers. Best regards, JR.