Monster

Representing the Military

When procuring recruitment content that speaks to your veteran talent pool, it’s important to properly represent the military in all aspects. The following guidelines will help you present your content in a respectful way that will resonate with your audience.

In general, images should not contain: 

  • Saluting. This is a sacred action and symbol of respect for the flag, superior officers and deceased service members. 
  • Facial hair or unkempt grooming. 
  • Uniform collars standing up. 

Take a look at the tabs below for more considerations when using images in your veteran recruitment advertising.

Do your best to not flood your communications with uniformed military. Remember, when veterans and reservists enter the civilian workforce, they dress in civilian attire. But if you do choose images of service members in uniform, be wary of stock photos that don’t depict an accurate representation according to current military regulations.  This applies to the following: 

  • Camouflage 
  • Uniform 
  • Hair style 
  • Physical build 
  • Name tapes (the piece of fabric with the service member’s last name on it) are always on the front right of a uniform; the name of the service branch is on the front left. Easy way to remember is that the service branch is closest to the heart.  
  • Flag is only on the right shoulder. 
  • Flag star field (i.e. field of blue) is to the right and not the left. The field is closest to the front of the service member.   
  • All uniform badges or other items personal to the military uniform should not appear in images. Airbrush, if needed. 
  • Check headgear (“cover”) to ensure accuracy. The types of authorized headgear changes frequently. For instance, a black beret on an Army soldier is outdated. The cover worn by Marines looks different from the cover worn by Army, but they look similar.  

The following resources can help: