The Empire needs men! Accession Number: ARTV00819

Description

British First World War Recruitment poster (No.58) issued by the Parliamentary Recruiting Committee (PRC). It features a naturalistic drawing by Arthur Wardle, one of Britain's most renowned animal painters of the Victorian era, of an old male lion standing on a large rock surrounded by four younger lions. The old lion is symbolic of Britain, the greatest imperial power at the turn of the twentieth century, calling on her dominions and colonies, the younger lions, to send men to fight in the war. The image fills the majority with the title and message text positioned above and below. Both the image and text are set against a golden yellow background within a black border.

The Parliamentary Recruiting Committee (PRC), was set up following the outbreak of war in August 1914. This was a cross-party organisation chaired by the Prime Minister, Herbert Asquith. It utilised the party infrastructure in parliamentary constituencies to support recruitment - party activists were called upon to distribute leaflets, and organise rallies, processions and public meetings. The PRC commissioned some 200 posters, mostly published before the introduction of conscription, Jan 1916. In Jul 1915, the PRC became the Parliamentary War Savings Committee.

Details

Accession Number
ARTV00819
Artist
Arthur Wardle
Printer
Straker Brothers Ltd
Publisher
Parliamentary Recruiting Committee
Classification
Art
Object Type
Poster
Measurement
sheet: 74.8 x 50.4 cm
Medium
Lithograph on paper
Date Made
1915
Place Made
Whole/Part
Whole
Item Count
1
Copyright
Copyright expired - public domain

Conflicts

Places

Units

Tags

Accession ARTV00819

More like this

It is going to be a long drawn-out struggle

Art ARTV04669 First World War, 1914-1918

British recruiting poster published by the Parliamentary Recruiting Committee. Reproduces an extract from a speech given by the Prime Minister, Herbert Asquith, delivered in 1914. It reads: 'We shall

Single men show your appreciation

Art ARTV04667 First World War, 1914-1918

Recruiting poster produced by the Parliamentary Recruiting Committee. This is an unusually attractive design, as most posters produced by the Committee were text only, or had very simple colour schem

THERE'S ROOM FOR YOU : ENLIST TODAY

Art ARTV04668 First World War, 1914-1918

Recruiting poster produced by the Parliamentary Recruiting Committee. This is an unusually decorative poster, as most posters produced by the Committee were text-based, and of limited colour. Depict

Let there not be a man or women among us

Art ARTV00443 First World War, 1914-1918

British First World War poster issued by the Parliamentary Recruiting Committee (PRC), London. Established in August 1914 the PRC was a combined party organisation chaired by the Prime Minister, Herbe

Why more men are needed...

Art ARTV00597 First World War, 1914-1918

British First World War poster issued by the Parliamentary Recruiting Committee (PRC), London. Established in August 1914 the PRC was a combined party organisation chaired by the Prime Minister, Herbe

See more similar items →

Record information

Last modified: 28 August 2025 - 11.26 pm