One of the most classic, most ceremonial symbols of the British monarchy: the Royal Guard in his red uniform and fur hat. When Banksy takes on this figure, as expected, he chooses parody over respect.

This piece shows a Royal Guard standing on duty in his classic pose. Then the scene suddenly turns into an unexpected moment of privacy. In full official uniform and with total seriousness, the guard is shown urinating against a wall. The image surprises first, then makes you laugh, then reaches its real purpose. Behind all the ceremony, discipline and symbolic weight, it reminds us that an ordinary human being with ordinary bodily needs is standing there.

Images like this reflect a strategy that has become Banksy’s signature since the early 2000s: taking the strictest, most “sacred” symbols of institutional power and placing them next to their most human, most mundane moments. Here the Royal Guard is not just a soldier. He is a living symbol of the monarchy, of discipline, of British identity and of the touristic image of “Britishness”.

Today this image is remembered as a classic example of Banksy’s ironic view of British institutions. With a single comic blow it reminds us how fragile, how thoroughly “man made”, great national symbols really are.