''Keep Calm and Carry On'' was a motivational poster produced by the

Government of the United Kingdom His Majesty's Government, abbreviated to HM Government or otherwise UK Government, is the central government, central executive authority of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

in 1939 in preparation for

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. The poster was intended to raise the

morale Morale ( , ) is the capacity of a group's members to maintain belief in an institution or goal, particularly in the face of opposition or hardship. Morale is often referenced by authority figures as a generic value judgment of the willpower, ...

of the British public, threatened with widely predicted mass air attacks on major cities. Although 2.45 million copies were printed, and

the Blitz The Blitz (English: "flash") was a Nazi Germany, German bombing campaign against the United Kingdom, for eight months, from 7 September 1940 to 11 May 1941, during the Second World War. Towards the end of the Battle of Britain in 1940, a co ...

did in fact take place, the poster was only rarely publicly displayed and was little known until a copy was rediscovered in 2000 at Barter Books, a bookshop in

Alnwick Alnwick ( ) is a market town in Northumberland, England, of which it is the traditional county town. The population at the 2011 Census was 8,116. The town is south of Berwick-upon-Tweed and the Scottish border, inland from the North Sea ...

. It has since been re-issued by a number of private companies, and has been used as the decorative theme for a range of products. Evocative of the

Victorian Victorian or Victorians may refer to: 19th century * Victorian era, British history during Queen Victoria's 19th-century reign ** Victorian architecture ** Victorian house ** Victorian decorative arts ** Victorian fashion ** Victorian literatur ...

belief in British

stoicism Stoicism is a school of Hellenistic philosophy that flourished in ancient Greece and Rome. The Stoics believed that the universe operated according to reason, ''i.e.'' by a God which is immersed in nature itself. Of all the schools of ancient ...

– the " stiff upper lip", self-discipline, fortitude, and remaining calm in adversity – the poster has become recognised around the world. It was thought that only two original copies survived until a collection of approximately 15 was brought in to the ''

Antiques Roadshow ''Antiques Roadshow'' is a British television programme broadcast by the BBC in which antiques appraisers travel to various regions of the United Kingdom (and occasionally in other countries) to appraise antiques brought in by local people ( ...

'' in 2012 by the daughter of an ex-

Royal Observer Corps The Royal Observer Corps (ROC) was a civil defence organisation intended for the visual detection, identification, tracking and reporting of aircraft over Great Britain. It operated in the United Kingdom between 29 October 1925 and 31 Decembe ...

member. A few further examples have come to light since.

History

Design

During 1938, newspapers were sold with a "Keep Calm and Dig" poster. The ''Keep Calm and Carry On'' poster was designed by the Ministry of Information from 27 June to 6 July 1939. It was produced as one of three "Home Publicity" posters (the others read "Your Courage, Your Cheerfulness, Your Resolution Will Bring Us Victory" and "Freedom Is in Peril / Defend It With All Your Might"). Each poster showed the slogan under a representation of a

Tudor Crown The Tudor Crown was a crown created in the early 16th century for either Henry VII of England, Henry VII or Henry VIII, the first House of Tudor, Tudor monarchs of Kingdom of England, England, and destroyed in 1649 during the English Civil War. ...

(a symbol of the state). ''Keep Calm'' was intended to be distributed to strengthen morale in the event of a wartime disaster, such as mass bombing of major cities using high explosives and poison gas, which was widely expected within hours of an outbreak of war. A career civil servant named A. P. Waterfield came up with "Your Courage" as one of several suggestions to be used as "a rallying war-cry that will bring out the best in everyone of us and put us in an offensive mood at once". Others involved in the planning of the early posters included John Hilton, Professor of Industrial Relations at

Cambridge University The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...

, responsible overall as Director of Home Publicity; William Surrey Dane, managing director at

Odhams Press Odhams Press was a British publishing company, operating from 1920 to 1968. Originally a magazine publisher, Odhams later expanded into book publishing and then children's comics. The company was acquired by Fleetway Publications in 1961 and th ...

; Gervas Huxley, former head of publicity for the

Empire Marketing Board The Empire Marketing Board was formed in May 1926 by the Colonial Secretary Leo Amery to promote intra-Empire trade and to persuade consumers to 'Buy Empire'. It was established as a substitute for tariff reform and protectionist legislation and ...

; William Codling, controller of

HMSO The Office of Public Sector Information (OPSI) is the body responsible for the operation of His Majesty's Stationery Office (HMSO) and of other public information services of the United Kingdom. The OPSI is part of the National Archives of the U ...

;

Harold Nicolson Sir Harold George Nicolson (21 November 1886 – 1 May 1968) was a British politician, writer, broadcaster and gardener. His wife was Vita Sackville-West. Early life and education Nicolson was born in Tehran, Persia, the youngest son of dipl ...

, MP; W. G. V. Vaughan, who became Director of the General Production Division (GPD); H. V. Rhodes, who later wrote an occasional paper on setting up a new government department;

Ivison Macadam Sir Ivison Stevenson Macadam (18 July 1894 – 22 December 1974) was the first Director-General of the Royal Institute of International Affairs (Chatham House), and the founding President of the National Union of Students (United Kingdom), Nat ...

; "Mr Cruthley"; and "Mr Francis". Ernest Wallcousins was the artist tasked with creating the poster designs. Detailed planning for the posters had started in April 1939 and the eventual designs were prepared after meetings between officials from the Ministry of Information and

HM Treasury His Majesty's Treasury (HM Treasury or HMT), and informally referred to as the Treasury, is the Government of the United Kingdom’s economic and finance ministry. The Treasury is responsible for public spending, financial services policy, Tax ...

on 26 June 1939, and between officials from the Ministry of Information and HMSO on 27 June 1939. Roughs of the poster were completed on 6 July 1939, and the final designs were agreed by the Home Secretary

Samuel Hoare, 1st Viscount Templewood Samuel John Gurney Hoare, 1st Viscount Templewood (24 February 1880 – 7 May 1959), more commonly known as Sir Samuel Hoare, was a senior British Conservative politician who served in various Cabinet posts in the Conservative and National gov ...

on 4 August 1939. Printing began on 23 August 1939, the day that Nazi Germany and the USSR signed the

Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact The Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact, officially the Treaty of Non-Aggression between Germany and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, and also known as the Hitler–Stalin Pact and the Nazi–Soviet Pact, was a non-aggression pact between Nazi Ge ...

, and the posters were ready to be placed up within 24 hours of the outbreak of war. The posters were produced in 11 different sizes, ranging from up to large 48-sheet versions. The background colour was either red or blue. The lettering was probably hand-drawn by Wallcousins: it is similar, but not identical, to humanist sans-serif typefaces such as

Gill Sans Gill Sans is a Sans-serif#Humanist, humanist sans-serif typeface designed by Eric Gill and released by the British branch of Monotype Imaging, Monotype in 1928. It is based on Edward Johnston's 1916 "Johnston (typeface), Underground Alphabet", t ...

and Johnston.

Production and distribution

Almost 2,500,000 copies of ''Keep Calm and Carry On'' were printed between 23 August and 3 September 1939 but while ''Your Courage'' and ''Freedom is in peril'' were both widely distributed, ''Keep Calm'' was not sanctioned for immediate public display. It was instead decided that copies should remain in "cold storage" for use after serious air raids (with resources transferred to ''Your Courage'' and ''Freedom is in Peril''). Copies of ''Keep Calm and Carry On'' were retained until April 1940, but stocks were then pulped as part of the wider Paper Salvage campaign. Some copies do appear to have been displayed, but such instances were rare and unauthorised. An October 1940 edition of the ''

Yorkshire Post ''The Yorkshire Post'' is a daily broadsheet newspaper, published in Leeds, Yorkshire, England. It primarily covers stories from Yorkshire, although its masthead carries the slogan "Yorkshire's National Newspaper". It was previously owned by ...

'' reports the poster hung in a shop in

Leeds Leeds is a city in West Yorkshire, England. It is the largest settlement in Yorkshire and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds Metropolitan Borough, which is the second most populous district in the United Kingdom. It is built aro ...

; a photograph discovered in 2016 shows it on the wall of a government laboratory in

Bedfordshire Bedfordshire (; abbreviated ''Beds'') is a Ceremonial County, ceremonial county in the East of England. It is bordered by Northamptonshire to the north, Cambridgeshire to the north-east, Hertfordshire to the south and the south-east, and Buckin ...

; and a large version displayed in a

pub A pub (short for public house) is in several countries a drinking establishment licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption on the premises. The term first appeared in England in the late 17th century, to differentiate private ho ...

appears in a 1941 photograph by

Cecil Beaton Sir Cecil Walter Hardy Beaton (14 January 1904 – 18 January 1980) was a British fashion, portrait and war photographer, diarist, painter, and interior designer, as well as costume designer and set designer for stage and screen. His accolades ...

. An example also features in a drawing of a

London Underground The London Underground (also known simply as the Underground or as the Tube) is a rapid transit system serving Greater London and some parts of the adjacent home counties of Buckinghamshire, Essex and Hertfordshire in England. The Undergro ...

station by Floyd MacMillan Davis, published in ''

Life Life, also known as biota, refers to matter that has biological processes, such as Cell signaling, signaling and self-sustaining processes. It is defined descriptively by the capacity for homeostasis, Structure#Biological, organisation, met ...

'' magazine in 1944, suggesting a more widespread distribution. The posters had been conceived on the assumption that enemy attacks of the civilian population would begin as soon as war was declared, and that there would be a great need for "a copious issue of general reassurance material". In practice, the initial poster campaign co-incided with the

Phoney War The Phoney War (; ; ) was an eight-month period at the outset of World War II during which there were virtually no Allied military land operations on the Western Front from roughly September 1939 to May 1940. World War II began on 3 Septembe ...

, and thus to a population as yet completely unaffected by direct encounter with the enemy. The remainder of the poster campaign was cancelled in October 1939 following criticism of its cost and impact.

Mass Observation Mass-Observation is a United Kingdom social research project; originally the name of an organisation which ran from 1937 to the mid-1960s, and was revived in 1981 at the University of Sussex. Mass-Observation originally aimed to record everyday ...

analysis of the public response to the campaign was overwhelmingly negative. Criticisms of the posters included ''Your Courage'' as being too long, confusingly worded, and generally annoying due to the sheer number of posters. In particular some had interpreted the message of ''Your Courage'' to imply that the common people would suffer for the benefit of the upper classes. Design historian Susannah Walker regards the campaign as "a resounding failure" and reflective of a misjudgement by upper-class civil servants of the mood of the people. Stuart Manley suggests that the negative reaction to the first two posters resulted in ''Keep Calm'' being held back, and that this was an error of judgement: "If they had started with this one, I think it would have been just as popular then as it is now.

Later developments

In late May and early June 1941, 14,000,000 copies of a leaflet entitled "Beating the Invader" were distributed with a message from Prime Minister

Winston Churchill Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (30 November 1874 – 24 January 1965) was a British statesman, military officer, and writer who was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1940 to 1945 (Winston Churchill in the Second World War, ...

. The leaflet begins "If invasion comes..." and exhorts the populace to "Stand Firm" and "Carry On". The two phrases do not appear in one sentence, as they applied to different segments of the population depending on their circumstances, with those civilians finding themselves in areas of fighting ordered to stand firm (i.e., stay put) and those not in areas of fighting ordered to carry on (i.e., continue vital war work). Each mandate is identified as a "great order and duty" should invasion come. The leaflet then lists 14 questions and answers on practical measures to be taken.

Rediscovery and commercialisation

Keep Calm And Carry On - Original poster - Barter Books - 17-Oct-2011

In 2000, Stuart Manley, co-owner with his wife Mary of Barter Books Ltd. in

, Northumberland, was sorting through a box of second-hand books bought at auction when he uncovered one of the original "Keep Calm and Carry On" posters. The couple framed it and hung it up by the cash register; it attracted so much interest that Manley began to produce and sell copies. In late 2005, ''

Guardian Guardian usually refers to: * Legal guardian, a person with the authority and duty to care for the interests of another * ''The Guardian'', a British daily newspaper (The) Guardian(s) may also refer to: Places * Guardian, West Virginia, Unit ...

'' journalist Susie Steiner featured the replica posters as a Christmas gift suggestion, raising their profile still further. Other companies followed the Manleys' example, and the design rapidly began to be used as the theme for a wide range of products. Mary Manley later commented, "I didn't want it trivialised; but of course now it's been trivialised beyond belief." In early 2012, Barter Books debuted an informational short film, ''The Story of Keep Calm and Carry On'', providing visual insight into the modernisation and commercialisation of the design and the phrase. The poster has become an evocation of British stoicism: the " stiff upper lip", self-discipline, fortitude and remaining calm in adversity. Susannah Walker comments that it is now seen "not only as a distillation of a crucial moment in Britishness, but also as an inspiring message from the past to the present in a time of crisis". She goes on to point out, however, that such an interpretation overlooks the circumstances of its production, and the relative failure of the campaign of which it formed a part.Walker 2012, p. 45. More recently, Canadian TV comedy-drama series ''

Being Erica ''Being Erica'' is a Canadian comedy-drama television series that aired on CBC Television, CBC from January 5, 2009, to December 12, 2011. Created by Jana Sinyor, the series was originally announced by the CBC as ''The Session'', but was later r ...

'' (2009–2011) had a Keep Calm poster very visibly on Erica Strange's bathroom wall. During Barack Obama's presidential electoral campaign, a poster playing humorously on "carry" was on a campaign office wall.

Trademark claims

In August 2011, it was reported that a UK-based company called Keep Calm and Carry On Ltd (managed by entrepreneur Mark Coop) had registered the slogan as a

community trade mark A European Union trade mark or EU trade mark (abbreviated EUTM; named ''Community Trade Mark'' (''CTM'') until 23 March 2016) is a trade mark which is pending registration or has been registered in the European Union as a whole (rather than on a ...

in the EU, CTM No: 009455619, and in the United States, No. 4066622, after failing to obtain its registration as a trademark in the United Kingdom.Lewis 2017, pp. 74–5. The company issued a take-down request against a seller of ''Keep Calm and Carry On'' products. The company's right to claim the trademark was questioned by, among others, the Manleys of Barter Books, as the slogan had been widely used before registration and was not recognisable as indicating trade origin. An application was submitted by British intellectual property advisor and UK trademarking service Trade Mark Direct to cancel the registration on the grounds that the words were too widely used for one person to own the exclusive rights, but the request for cancellation was rejected and the trade mark was still protected in all EU countries. The company subsequently tried to register the slogan as its trademark in both the United States and Canada. The company's EU trademark expired on 18 October 2020, and its US trademark was cancelled on 13 July 2018. The company still operates a storefront in which they provide worldwide shipping of Keep Calm and Carry On branded clothing and other accessories. They describe themselves as "The only official and licensed store".

Imitations

As the popularity of the poster in various media has grown, innumerable parodies, imitations and co-optations have also appeared, making it a notable

meme A meme (; ) is an idea, behavior, or style that Mimesis, spreads by means of imitation from person to person within a culture and often carries symbolic meaning representing a particular phenomenon or theme. A meme acts as a unit for carrying c ...

. Messages range from the cute to the overtly political. Examples have included "Now Panic and Freak Out" (with an upside-down crown), "Get Excited and Make Things" (with a crown incorporating spanners), "Keep Calm and Have a Cupcake" (with a

cupcake A cupcake ( AmE, CanE), fairy cake ( BrE), or bun ( IrE) is a small cake designed to serve one person, which may be baked in a small thin paper or aluminum cup. As with larger cakes, frosting, icing and various other cake decorations such as ...

icon), "Don't Panic and Fake a British Accent", "Keep Spending and Carry On Shopping", "Keep Calm and Don't Sneeze" during the

2009 swine flu pandemic The 2009 swine flu pandemic, caused by the H1N1/swine flu/influenza virus and declared by the World Health Organization (WHO) from June 2009 to August 2010, was the third recent flu pandemic involving the H1N1 virus (the first being the 1918� ...

, "Keep Calm and Call Batman" (with the Batman logo), "Keep Calm and Switch to Linux" (with Tux), and "Keep Calm and Wash Your Hands". The phrase has been modified in many ways, as noted in the title of a book chapter '"Keep Calm and Carry On" – From Wartime Slogan to One of the Most Frequently Modified Proverbs' by Sabine Fiedler. In March–April 2012, the British pop-rock band

McFly McFly are a British pop rock band formed in London in 2003. The band took their name from the ''Back to the Future (franchise), Back to the Future'' character Marty McFly. The band consists of Tom Fletcher (lead vocals, guitar, and piano), Da ...

undertook a theatre tour entitled " The Keep Calm and Play Louder Tour", promoted with a poster closely based on that of 1939. In late 2012 and early 2013, the "Save Lewisham Hospital" campaign (a protest against proposed cuts in services at

University Hospital Lewisham University Hospital Lewisham (formerly known as Lewisham Hospital) is a teaching hospital run by Lewisham and Greenwich NHS Trust and serving the London Borough of Lewisham. It is now affiliated with King's College London and forms part of the ...

) made widespread use of a poster with the slogan "Don't Keep Calm Get Angry and Save Lewisham A&E". The efforts of

Naheed Nenshi Naheed Kurban Nenshi (born February 2, 1972) is a Canadian politician who has served as the leader of the Alberta New Democratic Party (NDP) since 2024. He previously served as the 36th List of mayors of Calgary, mayor of Calgary for Mayoralty o ...

, mayor of

Calgary Calgary () is a major city in the Canadian province of Alberta. As of 2021, the city proper had a population of 1,306,784 and a metropolitan population of 1,481,806 making it the third-largest city and fifth-largest metropolitan area in C ...

, Alberta, Canada, to encourage and motivate his citizens in the wake of the

2013 Alberta floods In the days leading up to June 19, 2013, parts of southern and central Alberta, Canada experienced heavy rainfall that triggered catastrophic flooding described by the provincial government as the worst in History of Alberta, Alberta's history. ...

made him the subject of parody "Keep Calm and Nenshi On" fundraising T-shirts.

Gallery

File:Stay Alive and Avoid Zombies.png, Poster parody, 2009 File:A (3407110321).jpg, T-shirt parody, 2009 File:Keep Calm and Drive On, August 15, 2014 (14934776186).jpg, "Keep calm and drive on": matrix sign discouraging

road rage Road rage is aggressive or angry behavior exhibited by people driving a vehicle. These behaviors include rude and verbal insults, yelling, physical threats or dangerous driving methods targeted at other drivers, pedestrians, or cyclists in an ...

in Massachusetts, 2014 File:Keep Calm and Charlie On placard.jpg,

Trafalgar Square Trafalgar Square ( ) is a public square in the City of Westminster in Central London. It was established in the early-19th century around the area formerly known as Charing Cross. Its name commemorates the Battle of Trafalgar, the Royal Navy, ...

event for

Charlie Hebdo shooting On 7 January 2015, at about 11:30 a.m. in Paris, Paris, France, the employees of the French satirical weekly magazine ''Charlie Hebdo'' were targeted in a terrorist shooting attack by two French-born Islam in Algeria, Algerian Muslim bro ...

victims, 2015 File:Keep calm and wash your hands DC metro.jpg, Electronic sign inside a metro station in Washington, DC during the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

, 2020

References

External links

The Truth Behind Keep Calm and Carry On

Imperial War Museum The Imperial War Museum (IWM), currently branded "Imperial War Museums", is a British national museum. It is headquartered in London, with five branches in England. Founded as the Imperial War Museum in 1917, it was intended to record the civ ...

(January 2019) Propaganda posters Motivation Memes Cultural history of World War II World War II and the media Slogans United Kingdom home front during World War II Propaganda in the United Kingdom World War II propaganda English phrases 1939 quotations 2000 introductions Snowclones Political posters of the United Kingdom