While subject to Hapsburg rule the Czechs, like other minorities in the Austro-Hungarian Empire, were forbidden to organise politically. As a result patriotic sentiments had to be disguised and expressed through seemingly safe outlets. Sokol, the Czech word for falcon, on the surface an innocuous gymnastic organisation, was one such outlet, whose purpose was ostensibly to train young people in athletics and to organise national sporting competitions. Its true purpose, however, was political and Sokol worked tirelessly to arouse the nationalist spirit and throw off the Hapsburg yoke. By creating this and other posters for the organisation, Mucha clearly allied himself with the group`s patriotic cause.
In this poster Mucha once again combines the realistic with the symbolic. The young girl in a red cloak, a Sokol colour, is a personification of Prague; her crown resembles the ramparts of the city, her staff bears the emblem of Prague and she holds garlands made of the leaves of the linden tree ? the national tree of the Czech lands. In the background a shadowy young woman, representing the spirit of the early Slavs, carries a falcon, sokol, symbol of manly qualities and a spiked sun circle, symbol of future hope.