1943 SPARS - Serve with Women's Reserve - U.S. Coast Guard
The Vintage Map Shop
Regular price $45.00
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By: Jo Valentin
Date of Original: 1943
Original Size: 42 x 28 inches
This is a fine print reproduction of an evocative World War II recruitment poster, illustrated by Jo Valentin, that was designed and published by to encourage women to join the SPARS; the Women’s Reserve of the United States Coast Guard.
A poised SPAR officer in full dress uniform salutes confidently, with a Coast Guard cutter behind her symbolizing the modern role of women in naval service. Above, a pioneer woman with a musket and covered wagon evokes frontier courage, linking past fortitude with the service of wartime women.
Founded in 1942, the SPARS were the Coast Guard’s female reserve, their name drawn from the motto “Semper Paratus Always Ready Service.” In World War II, women took on vital shore-based duties in clerical work, communications, and logistics, freeing men for combat at sea. Like the Navy’s WAVES and Army’s WACs, they represented a key step in expanding women’s roles in the armed forces.
Valentine’s poster is both symbolic and inspirational, placing women’s wartime service within America’s larger tradition of perseverance and defense. By blending patriotic imagery with historical continuity, it recruited while reshaping public views of women’s military contributions at a pivotal moment in U.S. history.
Inventory #92300