The Navy Heritage poster is one of the quietest recruiting images the U.S. Navy ever produced, and one of the most enduring. Painted in 1959 by Lou Nolan, it has no guns, no battle and no slogan beyond two words: HERITAGE and NAVY. A sailor and a small boy stand hand in hand on a pier, looking out at USS Constitution. The message is carried entirely by the picture: the Navy is a tradition, and every new sailor inherits it.
What the Heritage poster shows
A petty officer in dress blues, white hat and bell-bottom trousers stands with his back half turned to the viewer, holding the hand of a boy in a red sweater and shorts. They stand on a sunlit concrete pier with a bollard at its edge and gulls wheeling over the water. Beyond them rises the black and white hull of Old Ironsides, her masts and rigging filling the sky and an American flag flying from her stern.
Nolan kept the palette soft: lavender and blue sky, pale water and warm light on the pier. Against it, the dark uniform and the ship’s hull form the two strongest shapes on the page, linking the living sailor to the historic ship. The boy looks up at the ship, not at the viewer. He is the future recruit, and the sailor is showing him where he comes from.
USS Constitution: the ship in the poster
USS Constitution was one of the six original frigates authorized by the Naval Act of 1794 and was launched in Boston in October 1797. She earned the nickname “Old Ironsides” in the War of 1812, when British cannon shot was seen bouncing off her thick oak sides during her victory over HMS Guerriere in August 1812. Still a commissioned U.S. Navy ship, crewed by active-duty sailors and berthed at the Charlestown Navy Yard in Boston, she is the oldest commissioned warship afloat in the world.
No other ship could say “heritage” so clearly. By 1959 the Navy was building nuclear submarines and jet carriers, yet Nolan chose a sailing frigate from the age of John Adams to sell service in the modern fleet.
Lou Nolan, the artist
Louis James Nolan Jr. was born in Washington, D.C. on June 28, 1926. He served in the U.S. Navy from 1945 to 1946, including duty aboard the escort carrier USS Savo Island at the end of World War II. After the war he studied at the Corcoran School of Art and graduated from Parsons School of Design in New York in 1952.
Nolan worked as a book designer and illustrator in New York before returning to Washington as a freelance artist. In 1964 he co-founded the commercial art firm Nolan, Duffy & White, whose main client was the Navy. From 1985 to 2007 he also illustrated more than a dozen U.S. postage stamps, including designs in the Transportation series. He died in McLean, Virginia, in 2008. Of all his work, Heritage is the image he is best remembered for. He also painted the Navy’s Travel… Navy recruiting poster featuring USS Miller.
A recruiting poster that lasted decades
Most recruiting posters were replaced within a year or two. Heritage kept being printed. The U.S. Government Printing Office issued it again in the 1970s, and surviving copies include a 1974 printing and later reprints in several sizes, from small window cards to full-size posters. Mystic Stamp Company notes that the image stayed in use through and after the Vietnam War and later became part of the Naval History and Heritage Command’s logo.
Part of its staying power is that the poster does not depend on any one war or technology. A sailor, a child and a famous ship worked just as well in 1959 as in 1974, and they still speak to Navy families today.
Why collectors and Navy families love it
Heritage appeals to people who might never hang a combat poster. It is a natural gift for a Navy veteran, a retiring chief, a new recruit or a grandparent who served, and its maritime subject sits comfortably in a living room, study or child’s room. For collectors of U.S. Navy recruiting posters it is a key Cold War-era design by an artist who was himself a Navy veteran.
Bring the Navy Heritage poster home
Our Navy Heritage print is produced from a 300 dpi print file as a paper print in 11.7 x 16.5, 20 x 28 or 23.4 x 33.1 inches, or framed at 12 x 17, 20 x 28 or 23 x 33 inches in black, white or natural wood. Every print is made to order in the USA with free standard US shipping.
Navy Heritage poster FAQ
Who painted the Navy Heritage poster?
The Heritage recruiting poster was painted in 1959 by Lou Nolan (Louis James Nolan Jr., 1926 to 2008), a Washington, D.C. artist who served in the U.S. Navy in World War II and later designed Navy recruiting art and U.S. postage stamps.
What ship is in the Navy Heritage poster?
The sailing ship is USS Constitution, known as Old Ironsides. Launched in Boston in 1797, she is the oldest commissioned warship afloat in the world.
When was the Navy Heritage poster made?
Lou Nolan painted the artwork in 1959. The poster stayed in use for many years and was reprinted by the U.S. Government Printing Office into the 1970s, including a documented 1974 printing.
What does the Navy Heritage poster mean?
A sailor holding a boy’s hand while both look at USS Constitution shows naval tradition being passed from one generation to the next. It invited young Americans to see themselves as part of a service history reaching back to 1797.
What sizes is the Navy Heritage print available in?
Our edition comes as a paper print in 11.7 x 16.5, 20 x 28 or 23.4 x 33.1 inches, or as a framed print in 12 x 17, 20 x 28 or 23 x 33 inches in a black, white or natural wood frame, with free standard shipping in the US.
Historical sources
- Naval History and Heritage Command: Heritage, Sailor Holding Boy’s Hand (Navy Recruiting Posters of the Atomic Age)
- Naval History and Heritage Command: NH 67050-KN
- USS LST Ship Memorial: Heritage poster, object 2016.076.017
- Lou Nolan (artist)
- Mystic Stamp Company: Birth of Lou Nolan
- USS Constitution