Calling all artists! The 2020 National Veterans Day Poster Contest is underway. Each year the Veterans Day National Committee publishes a commemorative Veterans Day poster. The Committee selects a poster from artwork submitted by artists nationwide. It also distributes the winning design to VA facilities, military installations around the world, and across cities and towns in our nation. It then serves as the cover of the official program for the Veterans Day Observance at Arlington National Cemetery.
Over the years these posters have illustrated the rich history of our country’s service men and women. The poster reflects our pride and patriotism in saluting Veterans while providing the thematic artistry for the year.
The theme for Veterans Day 2020 is: “Vision: Veterans in Focus.” All Veterans make a sacrifice to serve their country, whether physically, emotionally, or by being away from their loved ones and missing important life moments. As the saying goes, hindsight is always 20/20. Looking back on centuries of Veterans’ service and sacrifice and what we have learned from the past, we must always maintain the vision for the future of Veterans. Putting the Veteran at the center, on Veterans Day we continue to honor all who served, while focusing on the needs of the next generation of Veterans.
Submission Guidelines
- Be 18” x 24” at 300 dots per inch, scale down submissions to 9”x12.”
- The design will be used for a 1” x 1.5” lapel pin. Simple designs look best scaled down to lapel pins. If you’d like to submit a modified design for the lapel pin based off the original poster design, you may do so.
- Submissions are not restricted to “human centric” presentations, such as a joint color guard. Imagery of American icons, monuments or scenery can qualify, for example, the American flag.
- Representative of all Veterans who served. The Committee may select a particular submission but ask the artist to make modifications to the original design. The Committee may require additional changes prior to printing.
- Design must include the words :Veterans Day, November 11, 2020” and “Honoring all who served.”
- Include sufficient information to demonstrate that the image is the work of the artist and is not copyrighted material (i.e. photos and concepts).
- Successful designs are very simple with minimal imagery and verbiage. To view examples of past winning submissions visit: http://www.va.gov/opa/vetsday/gallery.asp.
Submit electronic versions as jpg images or PDF files by email to vetsday@va.gov or send copies of artwork on a CD with artwork files to:
Veterans Day National Committee (002D)
Department of Veterans Affairs
810 Vermont Avenue, NW
Washington, D.C. 20420
Deadline
The deadline for submissions is April 1, 2020. The Veterans Day National Committee will convene a selection sub-committee in May 2020 to review submissions and make a final selection.
Questions? – contact the Veterans Day Coordinator at vetsday@va.gov.
