If you live in the US your uncle would be Sam and he would want money from you and service for your country so not really everyone's favorite uncle. How did he become a symbol of the US? As the story goes during the War of 1812 Samuel Wilson, a New York meat merchant supplied thousands of barrels of beef and pork to the hungry troops. The barrels were stamped with U.S. to indicate they were government property but the grateful soldiers thought of the US as Uncle Sam. The name took off and illustrations showing Uncle Sam much the same as the patriotic figure we know today. Even though this story is sometimes disputed Congress passed a resolution in 1961 recognizing Wilson as Uncles Sam's namesake.
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