The paper considers the problem of using the traditional symbolic system, which is introduced into the Soviet culture of the specified period these images are mostly warlike, which is explained by their importance under the conditions of anticipation and warfare. But here we cannot talk about the dominance of only militaristic aesthetics. The demarcation feature is visible in the appeal to ones tradition, which distinguished two totalitarian systems that apply their established values to the practices of transforming the self-identification of mankind. We can also trace the development of the cultural atmosphere in the USSR of the studied period during wartime, both in the Soviet poster and in other forms of art, in connection with the appeal to traditional values.