Saladin Productions - The Byrds

This poster featuring The Byrds, was made in 1967 by Saladin Productions but no artist was credited. Saladin produced posters from 1967 through 1973 or perhaps later and this Byrds poster was similar to a line of other groovy posters for bands like the Jefferson Airplane, the Electric Prunes, the Doors, the Buckinghams, Buffalo Springfield, and the Monkeys.

Like many of the “Headshop” posters made in the late 1960s to satisfy American teenager’s poster craze, not much in known about Saladin - generally these companies were in business for a short time and then moved on to chase the next fad.

Saladin is the Western name of Salah al-Din Yusuf ibn Ayyub, the Muslim sultan of Egypt and Syria who famously defeated a massive army of Crusaders in the Battle of Hattin and captured the city of Jerusalem in 1187. At the height of his power, he ruled a unified Muslim region stretching from Egypt to Arabia. A popular Egyptian movie, Saladin the Victorious, had been released in 1963 and perhaps influenced the choice of name for the company.