Militant Imagery Project

The use of propaganda and imagery by terrorist groups has long been an understudied dimension of the broader field of political violence. This project explores the use of imagery and visual themes by militant groups, focusing largely on jihadist media production. Jihadist organizations and individuals inspired by their message are prolific producers and distributors of visual propaganda, and their efforts have expanded exponentially online. However, these images frequently utilize themes which can be inscrutable to those not familiar with the sub-culture. It is our hope that this project will provide academics, practitioners, and students with a basic contextual understanding of the ideas these images convey before they turn to the larger questions of why they are employed, how they work, and what responses they may elicit.

The First Edition of this project was completed in 2006. The second phase (2010-2013) included indexing the project’s initial images, expanding and incorporating new images, and putting all of the images online in a searchable format. Particular attention was given to groups who use images to further financial, material, and ideological support for violence. The imagery dataset provides not just a textual analysis, but also full translation, if texts are part of the image, and a search engine for those interested in specific visual motifs. While by no means an exhaustive list, we feel it provides a sample of the most influential and prominent images and themes. We hope it will serve as a useful tool for practitioners, academics and the general public. Contingent upon funding and interest, we hope to update the dataset to highlight visual themes of additional militant groups in the future.

Old Logo of Global Islamic Media Front (GIMF)
The image is one of the older logos employed by the Global Islamic Media Front (GIMF). On a black background,...
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Image of Afghanistan & Earth
In the image, a map of Afghanistan is shown with a flag pitched in its center, displaying the shahada (Islamic...
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Map of Chechnya
The text in the image reads: “al-shishan—humum waahzan, la tabkhalu ‘alayhim wa-law bil-du‘a’” (“Chechnya—concerns and sorrows, don’t be stingy with...
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Jama‘at al-Tawhid wal-Jihad Logo
As the logo in the top center indicates, the image was created by or for Jama‘at al-Tawhid wal-Jihad (JTJ, or...
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Cover of al-Jama’a magazine
This is the cover of the 4th issue (August 2005) of al-Jama’a magazine, which is published by the Groupe Salafiste...
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Image of Wounded Children & Old Man
The caption in the image is a quote from the Qur’an (27: 62): “Ammin, yujibu al-mudtarr idha da‘ahu wa-yakshifu al-su’”...
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Image Commemorating ‘Abd al-‘Aziz al-Muqrin
Jihadi visual propaganda uses images of the globe/planet earth to globalize localized issues and conflicts, as well as to articulate...
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Image of Storm
As in many cultures, weather phenomena are seen in Islam as an act of God. Their appearance in jihadi visual...
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