Is 'Raising the Flag at Iwo Jima' the Most Parodied Photo in History?

This post has been updated to include additional images.

Photographer Joe Rosenthal admitted that when he took a shot of five Marines and one Navy corpsman raising the U.S. flag on Iwo Jima’s Mt. Suribachi on Feb. 23, 1945, he had no idea that he had captured something extraordinary. He was setting up for a different shot when he spotted the group of men planting the flag and quickly took a snap without even looking through the viewfinder. The chance photo would become iconic overnight and go on to win the Pulitzer Prize.

“Raising the Flag on Iwo Jima” is often cited as being the most reproduced photograph in history. It is also probably the most parodied image in the world. The “Iwo Jima pose” has become a popular symbol for organizations or movements wishing to convey victory, teamwork, or patriotism. The use of the image has ranged from respectful homage to what some consider offensive misappropriation.

Art and Sculpture

Mask of New York Islanders goalie Rick DiPietro

Alstede Farms corn maze, Chester, New Jersey

Marine Christmas Card from Lebanon in 1982

Title Screen for 1986 Iwo Jima video game

Sculpted out of butter in the Camp Fallujah chow hall, Iraq

Cake made from crispy rice and chocolate at Cake Cental — Cake made from crispy rice and chocolate at Cake Central

Ol’ Glory beer successfully appealed to federal regulator to allow the “Pledge of Allegiance” to be printed on every can

Portable War Museum by artist Edward Kienholz

Stained glass from the National Cathedral in Washington, D.C.

Foreign Militaries

Several Foreign militaries have adopted the pose for a variety of uses.

Turkish soldiers put a wire fence around area after Turkish flag is raised on Feb. 22, 2015 in Syria.

Soldiers from the 1st Battalion The Royal Regiment of Scotland in 2013

Stamps and Currency

Sri Lanka’s Central Bank initially denied that the 1000 Rupee note circulated in 2009 was modeled after the Rosenthal photograph, but later confessed that the image was indeed the inspiration.

Marine Corps 230th Anniversary Silver Dollar - 2005 — Marine Corps 230th Anniversary Silver Dollar – 2005

Opened in 2006, The National Museum of the Marine Corps in Triangle, VA, was designed to evoke the raising of the flag.

Album Covers

Bands striking the Iwo Jima pose has become cliché.

Funkadelic -One Nation UNder a Groove, 1978

Magazines, Comics and Book Covers

The 2008 Time magazine issue on global warming caused a furor when Iwo Jima veterans objected to the alteration of the original photo, calling it “an absolute disgrace”

1969 Chicago Today American editorial cartoon showing the ghosts of Apollo 1 Gus Grissom, Ed White and Roger Chafee helping Neil Armstrong raise a flag on the moon.

The short-lived Cosmos Science Fiction and Fantasy Magazine, 1953

America: A Patriotic Primer by Lynne Cheney, 2002

Monstrous Regiment by Terry Pratchett, 2003

Dumbest Generation by Mark Bauerlein, 2007

Activism

British Airlines Stewards and Stewardesses Association

Published in 1971, The New Soldier by John Kerry documented the efforts of the Vietnam Veterans Against the War

Greenpeace activists raise a model wind turbine at the Dept of the Interior in 2010.

Protest against Japan’s toxic waste trade policies in the Philippines

Cover for Frontiers magazine by Ed Freeman

Editorial Cartoons

Among other commentary, the Iwo Jima pose is regularly used in satirical cartoons.

Mad magazine illustration after the terrorist attacks on the French satire magazine Charlie Hebdo in 2015.

The Official British Army Fitness Program

Pop Culture

A scene from the Netflix series Stranger Things.

Newsweek promotional photo for The Jersey Shore

Indicative of its relevance as a cultural touchstone, the Iwo Jima pose has been referenced on The Simpsons at least six times – “New Kid on the Blecch,” “Selma’s Choice,” “LargeMarge,” “Rosebud,” “Half Decent Proposal,” and “Mr. Spritz Goes to Washington.”