An angel holding a shining torch with a uniformed man in a helmet holding the Union Jack flag of Great Britain and another man in a blue shirt holding a hammer and raising his right arm.

ONLINE EXHIBIT: Canadian Posters from the First World War

Victory Bonds

The Canadian Government sold Victory Bonds to help pay for the war. Here you can explore some of the different posters created to advertise them. Plus, learn about the special flag designed to recognize high contributing communities.

A popular financial product

The bonds were a loan to the government that could be redeemed with interest after 5, 10 or 20 years and were released during 5 different campaigns between 1915 and 1919. In 1915 a hundred million dollars worth of Victory Bonds was issued and quickly purchased.

Poster with a smiling man in uniform pulling at his coat.

Give your life savings for the security of your country

“The man, be rich or poor, is little to be envied, who at this supreme moment fails to bring forward his life savings for the security of his country.”

Slogan on the application for a Victory Bond during the 1917 Victory Loan campaign.

Each Victory Bond release saw a supporting poster campaign overseen by the Victory Loan Dominion Publicity Committee. The posters were large and printed in vivid colour on poor quality paper, often in substantial numbers.

Poster with a line of armed soldiers holding bayonets.

Poster with a single soldier facing away from us towards a battlefield.

Victory Bonds Will Help Stop This

This poster had a print run of approximately 60,000. It portrays the sinking of the Llandovery Castle, an unarmed hospital ship that was torpedoed on June 27, 1918. Two hundred and thirty-four lives were lost.

Of those killed on the Llandovery Castle were fourteen Canadian nurses. Over 3,000 of Canada’s Nursing Sisters volunteered at the start of the war. They worked in hospitals and other institutions across Europe and often close to the front lines. Sixty-one nurses died during the war, primarily from sickness.

Poster with a soldier rescuing a nurse from drowning. There’s a sinking ship in the background. These words surround the scene: Victory Bonds will help stop this. Kultur vs. Humanity.

Canadian Expeditionary Force Photographs

To document the activities of the Canadian forces the Canadian Expeditionary Force sent their own photographers to Europe to record the events. Some of the images they created served as the basis or inspiration for future posters.

To see more photographic images of the Canadian Expeditionary Force visit the Canadian Expeditionary Force photograph albums (C 224-8) on Wikimedia Commons.

Photograph of two trucks on a dirt road filled with soldiers waving at the camera.

Let’s all do our part

Posters constantly urged everyone to purchase bonds. Women in the home put money aside from their housekeeping allowance and children were encouraged to collect Thrift Stamps that could be accumulated until enough had been saved to buy a Victory Bond.

Bring Our Boys Back

The Victory Bond campaign of 1918 was one of the most successful, raising over $600,000 in three weeks. Although hostilities ended on November 11, 1918, another campaign was launched in 1919 that focused on the theme “Bring Our Boys Back” and the need to raise funds for the rehabilitation of returning soldiers.

Poster with a seated soldier with backpack and German helmet at his feet and ships in the background.

Poster with a man in uniform deliberating between two pictures that illustrate the city and countryside.

Victory Loan Flags

Flags were designed to reward those communities that made significant contributions to the Victory Bond campaigns. The population of a city, town or district must have purchased a certain value in Victory Bonds and upon reaching that target the citizens were rewarded with the presentation of a Victory Loan Honour Flag.

In 1919 a new flag was commissioned for that year’s campaign, incorporating the heraldic arms of the Prince of Wales, the future Edward the VIII, into the flag’s design. The prince visited Canada in September 1919 and raised the flag at Parliament on Labour Day weekend.

The prince’s remark, “I hope every City and District will win my flag,” became part of the poster campaign as seen in the image to the right.

Poster featuring a portrait of Edward, Prince of Wales, his remark and his flag.

The War Poster Service

In 1916 the Canadian Government established the War Poster Service to produce posters in both English and French. French posters were often a mirror version of the English design, but some unique posters were created just for the French speaking population.

Poster with illustrations of farming and industry.

French-language poster with illustrations of farming and industry.

The legacy of Victory Bonds

The Victory Bond Campaign was reintroduced during the Second World War. In 1946, after WWII had ended, the government began issuing Canada Savings Bonds. This was meant to encourage Canadians to continue the savings habit they had established with Victory Bonds.

Poster with an illustration of a soldier pointing at the viewer.

Back to: Chapter 01

Introduction

Next up: Chapter 03

The Canadian Patriotic Fund

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