Uncle Sam

There is a man who has a long white hair, a brand(beard?) and wears a swallow-tailed coat,a waistcoat, tall hat with a star and striped trousers, really like the American flag. Do you know him? Oh yes, he is Uncle Sam, a symbol of the United States. His appearance was from two other characters, Brother Jonathan and Yankee Doodle, in American folklore. But do you know when and why he was used to describe the American government? There are a plenty of opinions. One is during the war, maybe in 1812, they printed the letters "U.S" on the soldiers´ uniforms. Another is an inspector of the army supplies named Samuel Wilson who had a nickname: Unlce Sam. You know, there are "U.S" is on the army supply boxes too. Anyways, in 1961,the American congress adopted Uncle Sam as the symbol of the nation. It's very interesting to choose a cartoon character as a national symbol.
Do you remember a poster of Uncle Sam which you would usually watch see in some American movies? Yes, Uncle Sam points at you and says "we want you". That is it! That poster encouraged a lot of American young men to join the army and fight for their country during the First World War. I think it may be the most famous poster in America, even more than the Hollywood movie posters.