Poster, 'The Rising Sun Must Set'

item details

NamePoster, 'The Rising Sun Must Set'

ProductionNew Zealand National Savings Committee; creating agency; 1942; Wellington

Classificationpolitical posters

Materialsprinting ink, paper

Materials SummaryOffset lithograph on paper

Techniquesoffset lithography

DimensionsOverall: 320mm (height), 234mm (length)

Registration NumberGH015605

Credit lineLoan from Mr C.H. Andrews, 1967

Overview

This is a fund-raising poster designed and printed in the Second World War.

Design
The poster is an emotionally charged call for New Zealanders to give money to the war effort via saving bonds. 'The Rising Sun Must Set' specifies the Pacific theatre of war and the threat of Japanese aggression, which was at its worst in the first nine months of 1942. There is a sinister element in its combination of threatening language and depersonalised, hunched soldier facing away from the viewer, pointing his rifle at the heart of the Japanese imperial sun. However, the language of the poster indicates confidence in the ability eventually to overcome the threat.

Significance
Nearly half of the country's war spending was covered by internal borrowing through loans and savings bonds. New Zealand had no outstanding overseas debt as a result of the Second World War.