Honoring the brave people of the United States Armed Forces is one of America’s biggest holidays. Held annually on November 11, Veterans Day is a special holiday dedicated to every man and woman who has served in the military, laying their lives to defend the country.
If you want to show appreciation for those who’ve served their country, why not create a Veterans Day poster to hang in your office? Let’s look at Veterans Day poster ideas and three tools to help you make them.
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9 Veterans Day Poster Ideas
In 2022, the American Community Survey counted 16.2 million military veterans in the US — around 6.2% of the total adult population. Creating a Veterans Day poster is a meaningful way to honor their service and show appreciation.
Here are some creative ideas you can use to decorate your office:
- Red-blue-white color palette
- The american flag
- The bald eagle
- The American veterans’ medal
- Silhouettes
- Typography
- Soldiers
- American landmarks
- Poppy flowers
1. Red-Blue-White Color Palette
Since these individuals took on dangerous jobs to keep the country safe, using patriotic colors in the US — red, blue, and white — in your Veterans Day poster is a fitting tribute.
You can create a simple design that says “Thank you for your service” in red, blue, and white. Add stars, military caps, or any other symbols related to the military. Even something as simple as a pattern will do. Just remember — everything must be in red, blue and white!
2. The American Flag
When we mention the red-blue-and-white palette, what comes to mind? The American flag! A symbol of America’s freedom and justice, the flag is the perfect way to honor military veterans.
You can use the flag in the background for your Veterans Day posters and feature some additional elements or make it the main focus with a few words of thanks. Whichever way you choose, veterans will appreciate this symbol of patriotism in your design.
3. The Bald Eagle
Another symbol of America’s pride and strength is its national bird — the bald eagle. The bird is featured on the American seal, the mace of the House of Representatives, and other symbols of national importance.
The Department of Veterans Affairs used the bald eagle in one of their Veterans Day posters in 2016. So, why don’t you incorporate it into your design for this year’s holiday?
You can use an image of the majestic bird flying over lands or perched on a tree. Consider working with creative agencies to design a drawing of the eagle with the flag in the background.
4. The American Veterans’ Medal
Veterans who have served in all five branches of the US military are awarded the American Veterans’ Medal. The medal portrays the bald eagle taking flight, symbolizing the initiative and determination of those who serve in America’s Armed Forces.
You can include this medal in your Veterans Day poster. Emphasize it by bolding the wording on the medal itself or using it as an additional element in your design. You can also add the American Veterans’ Medal as part of your creative marketing strategy for the holiday.
5. Silhouettes
Silhouettes of military personnel standing in front of the American flag captures the spirit of Veterans Day. You can also include silhouettes of military vehicles like helicopters, planes, and ships to represent all branches of the military — the Army, Marine Corps, Navy, Air Force, Space Force, and Coast Guard.
6. Typography
Sometimes, simplicity is all you need for your Veterans Day poster. You don’t have to add many elements or colors — simple typography expressing gratitude for their service can do the job.
You can include the American flag or its colors, and maybe use different fonts to make the design more playful. For this type of Veterans Day poster idea, the key thing is to convey a sincere message of appreciation.
7. Soldiers
To grasp the reality of the holiday, go with a photograph of a soldier for your Veterans Day poster. A soldier saluting the flag or holding it evokes a feeling of respect towards the people who’ve served to protect its values.
Another idea for this type of Veteran Day poster is to create drawings of the soldiers. Avoid anything funny or childish, as this holiday calls for a more serious tone. You can work with the top design agencies or use free tools to create the graphics on your own.
8. American Landmarks
Your Veterans Day posters can also include American landmarks to represent the country these brave men and women have fought for. The Statue of Liberty, with its torch raised to light the way to freedom, is a great example. Other landmarks you can use for Veterans Day poster designs are Mouth Rushmore or the Lincoln Memorial.
Usually, designers pair these landmarks alongside the American flag or words of gratitude for veterans. You can experiment with colors and fonts, and even merge different elements of these landmarks — why not add Mount Rushmore in the background with the Lady Liberty’s torch up front?
9. Poppy Flowers
Poppy flowers are a symbol of veterans — honoring both those who have survived and those who’ve sacrificed their lives in the service. Every year on Veterans Day and Memorial Day, people worldwide wear poppy flowers to remember the sacrifice and honor those who served.
Why not include this powerful symbol in your company’s Veterans Day poster? You can use ordinary images of poppies, drawings, or even 3D designs. Contrast the red colors with green hues or tone down the saturation and create a subtle yet symbolic design like the Department of Veterans Affairs did in 2018.
3 Tools To Make Veterans Day Posters
Coming up with the Veterans Day poster designs is easy — actually designing them can be a challenge. Luckily, there are online tools you can use to simplify the process:
1. Canva
Canva is the first tool that comes to mind when creating Veterans Day posters. Used by over 130 million people monthly and with over 15 billion designs created in a decade, Canva offers a variety of templates and elements you can use to create something unique.
You can start with its ready-to-use templates and customize them to suit your business. Canva’s new AI features even allow you to create images from scratch. Just give the prompt and wait for your design to come to life!
What’s even better is that you can set the size of the template before you begin, with pre-determined options for different social media platforms. You can also choose to create an entirely new canvas.
The free plan includes all these features, making it suitable for every business, even startups. But if you want to add premium elements to your Veterans Day poster, you can upgrade to one of the paid plans.
Price:
- Canva Free
- Canva Pro: $15/month (one person)
- Canva Teams: $10/month (minimum 3 people)
2. Adobe Express
Adobe Express is an Adobe tool created to help individuals and businesses create content with the help of AI. You can design your Veterans Day posters with just a few clicks thanks to Adobe Firefly — its AI-powered content creator.
Start by choosing one of the many professionally made templates and customize them to your liking. With the Text to Image feature, you can easily input what you want to see, and the AI creator will generate it within minutes.
Other useful features include:
- Generative Fill — Add or remove elements with a single text prompt.
- Text to Template — Create whole new templates with one prompt.
- Text Styles — Generate a new style for your text with a prompt.
With Adobe Express, adding or removing elements from your Veterans Day poster becomes that much easier. You can also resize the design and create videos to share on social media.
Price:
- Free
- Premium: $9.99 per month
- Teams: $6.49 per month (first year only; then $12.99)
3. Freepik
While Freepik is mainly known as a source for royalty-free images, it can actually be used to design posters, photos, videos, and other content. Freepik features a separate Poster Maker tool that helps you develop your Veterans Day poster using templates or crafting one from scratch. With its drag-and-drop features and a variety of elements, you can design your poster in no time!
Freepik allows PDF, JPEG, and PNG format downloads that you can instantly share. Moreover, it even offers tailored posters designed for a certain event, industry, or topic.
Price:
- Free
- Essential: €3.75/month
- Premium: €9/month
- Premium +: €21/month
Veterans Day Poster Takeaways
Veterans Day posters are a meaningful way to show appreciation for those who’ve served the country. Your designs can be as simple as the words “Thank you” on the background of the American flag or feature elements like American monuments, the flag’s colors, the bold eagle, or even the American Veterans’ Medal.
Tools like Canva, Freepik, and Adobe Express make it easy for you to create quality designs that express gratitude and recognize the hardships military men and women have gone through. You can always ask the help of graphic design companies to come up with a truly memorable Veterans Day poster for your office.
