All-round good-egg Jonathan Calder has a deliberative piece today that eventually links to this piece in the Guardian about a very old wartime poster that has suddenly found new favour.
Two things struck me about the article.
One was the nice little detail that the Nottingham Emergency Planning team have a copy in the Emergency Control Centre in the Guildhall on Burton Street. (I’ve never been in that room, but it must be the easiest room to find. The Guildhall is a complete rabbit warren, but every floor and every corridor has a sign in it pointing out the direction to the Emergency Control Centre.)
The other interesting thing is the words from other posters. Yes, “Keep Calm and Carry On” is a good phrase. And “Your Courage, Your Cheerfulness, Your Resolution Will Bring Us Victory” certainly rings out a wartime feeling.
But the phrase that really has legs at the moment is the middle one. Freedom is in Peril.
This time the enemy is within.
Yes, I read that piece too, and I agree that ‘Freedom Is In Peril’ is a more resonant and contemporary phrase than ‘Keep Calm And Carry On’ – which sounds a bit too much like ‘Shut Up And Do What You’re Told’ for my liking.
I hadn’t read this when I posted something very similar this morning — could Freedom is in Peril be used as a rallying cry for those fighting for our civil liberties?