CND Soldiers

CND Soldiers was originally a mural painted on a wall very close to the Houses of Parliament, in London, England. The artwork shows two soldiers, stencil-sprayed crouching on the ground, warily scouting the landscape around them. One is holding a machine gun, the other a paintbrush in the process of painting a red peace sign onto the background behind the two figures. Such a use of monochromatic works with splashes of primary colours is a style also employed by activist and Street Artist Shepard Fairey.

The mural, which is considered to be a statement against war, was created shortly after the UK's involvement in the 2003 Iraq war and represents the millions of citizens, including soldiers, who protested against the invasion. The unsigned prints were released in 2005, and the piece was recreated and displayed in a collection at the Tate Britain gallery in 2007. Banksy is highly outspoken on political issues such as warfare and violence and an active advocate of peaceful solution to conflict. The perhaps most famous of such political artworks is Love is in the Air (Flower Thrower), which originally appeared as a mural on a wall in the conflict-ridden area of Jerusalem and shows a masked protester throwing a bouquet of flowers.