Arrows… for Spain the Great!! / Civil War Poster, 83

The glorification of military values during the Civil War is accompanied by a spiritualization of the armed conflict taking place, conceived as a "redemption", "salvation" or a "crusade". Along with this idealization of war, the iconography of pro-Franco posters makes use of emblems and symbols of very diverse origin, most of them alluding to the recovery and rereading of the national past in an imperial and religious tone. In this poster a group of "flechas" (this term –arrows– referred to the youngest members of the Spanish Youth Organisation, which was closely linked to the Phalange and supported Franco during the conflict) can be seen parading with bayonets held to their shoulders, under the words "¡¡flechas… a la España grande!!" (Arrows… to great Spain). The iconography underlines, in somewhat erotic tones, the heroic nature of the young people shown, while the absence of defined features in their faces reinforces their membership in a group devoid of individual identities, a characteristic of totalitarian aesthetics.

Once again, emphasis is on the greatness of Spain, on this occasion linked to the image of a military force that is youthful and brave.