Born in the U.S.A.

The cover shows Springsteen from behind, facing an American flag. He wears blue jeans and a white t-shirt, and a red baseball cap is tucked into his right back pocket — the three colors of the American flag appearing on his body. His posture is neutral, even ambiguous — he could be standing at attention, about to walk away, or simply pausing.

Annie Leibovitz, already one of the most celebrated photographers in America (her work for Rolling Stone had defined music photography in the 1970s), shot the image during a session at her studio. She took multiple rolls of film, but this image — shot from behind, with Springsteen's face invisible — was the unanimous choice. The decision to photograph him from behind was partly practical (the shot was reportedly taken between more conventional face-forward poses) and partly conceptual: it created an image that was about America rather than about a rock star.

The deliberate ambiguity of the image mirrors the album's most famous track, the title song "Born in the U.S.A." The song is widely misunderstood as a patriotic anthem — its roaring chorus and massive production can sound celebratory. But the lyrics tell the story of a Vietnam veteran who returns home to poverty, unemployment, and a country that has abandoned him. It is a protest song dressed in the clothes of a celebration.

The cover functions the same way. At first glance, it looks like a patriotic image — a man facing the flag, wearing American colors. But the turned back could also represent rejection, disillusionment, or simply the reality that this is a man who has been turned around by his country, who can face the flag but not look at it. The ambiguity is the point.

This ambiguity led to one of the most famous political misreadings in music history. During the 1984 presidential campaign, Ronald Reagan's team cited Springsteen as an example of American optimism, with Reagan mentioning him in a campaign speech. Springsteen publicly rejected the association, but the misunderstanding persisted. Conservative politicians have continued to attempt to co-opt "Born in the U.S.A." as a patriotic anthem ever since.

The cover is one of the most recognized and debated images in American popular culture. Its ambiguity — is it patriotic? Critical? Both? Neither? — makes it a perfect encapsulation of America's complicated relationship with itself. Leibovitz's image has been parodied, referenced, and analyzed in countless contexts. The album sold over 30 million copies worldwide, and the cover's visual language — jeans, flag, working-class body — defined Springsteen's image for the rest of his career.