Before Uncle Sam: “Brother Jonathan”

Uncle Sam is one of the most recognizable symbols tied to the U.S. government—and especially military recruiting. But who is he, really? And why is he always pointing straight at you? (Image credit: Library of Congress.)

For more than a century, Uncle Sam has been the poster-face of federal authority: star-spangled top hat, hard stare, and that finger aimed like a challenge. The message is always the same—service, duty, enlistment.

So where did Uncle Sam come from? To answer that, you have to go back—way back—to the earliest days of American identity and political cartoons.

Before Uncle Sam: “Brother Jonathan”

Uncle Sam didn’t show up out of nowhere. His earliest “ancestor” is a fictional patriot known as Brother Jonathan. The phrase existed even before the American Revolution. Brother Jonathan’ dates back to the English Civil War as a derogatory label for Puritans and opponents of the crown, and later got applied to American colonists—especially New Englanders—as a political nickname.

Over time, Brother Jonathan became a recognizable figure in editorial cartoons and patriotic messaging—basically an early mascot of the “American type.” (Image credit: New England Historical Society.)

For years, Brother Jonathan was more idea than character. That changed after independence, when illustrators started giving him a consistent look: an older, white-haired New England gentleman—confident, polished, and a little smug. He often wore a top hat and striped pants, which eventually became part of the visual DNA that Uncle Sam inherited.

The Shift: War of 1812 and a New National “Face”

Around the War of 1812, Brother Jonathan began evolving into something else. The country was still young, and it needed symbols that felt broader than “New England gentleman.” This is where the name Uncle Sam enters the story.

The “Uncle Sam” Name: Sam Wilson and the “U.S.” Barrels

The most-cited origin story links ‘Uncle Sam’ to Samuel Wilson, a New York meat supplier during the War of 1812; Congress later recognized him as the progenitor of the national symbol, though the story is still treated as a legend-based attribution.

Once newspapers picked up the story, the name spread. But the image of Uncle Sam still wasn’t locked in. Different artists tried different looks, and the character shifted depending on the era and the message.

The Image Takes Shape: Thomas Nast (Almost)

By the time of the Civil War and after, political cartooning was booming—and Thomas Nast was one of the biggest names in the business. Nast helped define multiple American icons (including modern Santa Claus and the Democratic donkey and Republican elephant).

Nast drew Uncle Sam in the 1870s in Harper’s Weekly, but those versions didn’t fully replace Brother Jonathan in the public imagination. The idea was there, but the “final form” still hadn’t arrived.

The Uncle Sam Everyone Knows: J.M. Flagg and World War I

That final leap happened on July 6, 1916, when illustrator James Montgomery Flagg published a version of Uncle Sam in Leslie’s Weekly with the caption: “What Are You Doing for Preparedness?”

After the U.S. entered World War I, the image was adapted into the recruiting poster that became legendary:

“I Want You for U.S. Army.” (Image credit: Library of Congress.)

That poster—and that stare—cemented Uncle Sam as the enduring symbol of U.S. military recruiting. By then, Brother Jonathan was basically retired, and Uncle Sam had become the country’s default “personification” of national duty.