Uncle Sam is an easily recognizable piece of wartime propaganda. And legend says he was based off a real person—though that may not actually be the case.

Uncle Sam, the personification of the United States, was "born" on Sept. 7, 1813, and inspired by New York businessman Samuel Wilson, who provided rations to troops in the War of 1812.

Books ‘Uncle Sam’ Was Hailed as a Comics Masterpiece, Then Left to Languish. It’s Been Reissued Just in Time for the Election. The 1997 comic, in which a bedraggled Uncle Sam battles for the ...

Ross and Darnall’s Uncle Sam was a particularly dark deconstruction of the original concept. Their take on the character was a vagrant, speaking in sound-bites and haunted by visions of America ...

Model? “Uncle Sam” may have been Sam Wilson, known as Uncle Sam, a meatpacker who stamped the initials “U.S.” on barrels of meat he sold to the Army in the War of 1812.

These attributes belonged to Uncle Sam, as seen in the famed "I want YOU for U.S. Army" poster that helped recruit legions of young men to fight in World Wars I and II.