<Tr> <Th> Release date (s) </Th> <Td> 1914 </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Th> Country </Th> <Td> United Kingdom </Td> </Tr> <P> Lord Kitchener Wants You is a 1914 advertisement by Alfred Leete which was developed into a recruitment poster . It depicted Lord Kitchener, the British Secretary of State for War, above the words "WANTS YOU". Kitchener, wearing the cap of a British Field Marshal, stares and points at the viewer calling them to enlist in the British Army against the Central Powers . The image is considered one of the most iconic and enduring images of World War I. A hugely influential image and slogan, it has also inspired imitations in other countries, from the United States to the Soviet Union . </P> <P> Prior to the institution of conscription in 1916, the United Kingdom relied upon volunteers for military service . Until the outbreak of the First World War, recruiting posters had not been used in Britain on a regular basis since the Napoleonic Wars . UK government advertisements for contract work were handled by His Majesty's Stationery Office, who passed this task onto the publishers of R.F. White & Sons in order to avoid paying the government rate to newspaper publishers . As war loomed in late 1913 the number of advertising contracts expanded to include other firms . J.E.B. Seely, then the Secretary of State for War, awarded Hedley Le Bas, Eric Field, and their Caxton Advertising Agency a contract to advertise for recruits in the major UK newspapers . Eric Field designed a prototype full - page advertisement with the Coat of Arms of King George V and the phrase "Your King and Country Need You ." Britain declared war on the German Empire on 4 August 1914 and the first run of the full - page ran the next day in those newspapers owned by Lord Northcliffe . </P>

When was the i want you poster created