CND Soldiers appeared in 2005 in London as one of Banksy’s anti-war print editions. The original mural version emerged in 2003 in front of the Houses of Parliament during an anti-war protest led by British peace activist Brian Haw. It stood as a manifesto against the United Kingdom’s intervention in Iraq and its nuclear weapons policy.

At the centre of the work are two crouching soldiers drawn in Banksy’s signature black-and-white stencil technique; one stands alert with a machine gun while the other paints a large peace symbol on the wall using a brush and paint pot. This symbol originally represented the British Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND) founded in 1957. 

Banksy subverts traditional military authority. He transforms soldiers from obedient agents of the state into covert peace activists.

With this piece Banksy questions the absurdity of military power and war; while soldiers paint a peace symbol, he mocks the state’s claim to ‘preserve peace’. The dripping red paint symbolises the bloody cost of war. Through the CND symbol he references calls for nuclear disarmament and protests against the Iraq War.

Banksy employs stencil technique with minimalist contrast and dynamic composition; the tense posture of the soldiers combined with the dripping red peace symbol creates a visual paradox that heightens the dramatic impact of the symbol. Critics describe the work as ‘an ironic portrait of war’. The Guardian praised it as ‘a satire that perfectly captures the soldiers’ inner conflict’.

The original mural was quickly removed by the authorities. Banksy gifted Brian Haw a CND Soldiers banner, but police seized the banner during a raid on Haw’s camp.

The soldiers’ dual role as both protectors and protesters reflects Banksy’s central question: can peace exist without war?