Photos of Banksy mural edited to feature England flags

Photos supposedly showing street artist Banksy’s most recent mural outside the Royal Courts of Justice have been edited to include the St George’s and Union Jack flags.

They are being shared amid the recent campaign to fly these flags from lamp posts and in public spaces across the country, dubbed ‘Operation Raise the Colours’, which has been the subject of much misinformation we’ve written about recently.

The photos show a mural—which has now reportedly been partly washed away—that depicts a judge wearing a traditional wig and black robe hitting a person on the ground who is holding either a St George’s or Union Jack flag. One post says: “Banksy has unveiled a new artwork depicting a judge attacking a Patriotic protester”, while another is captioned: “Banksy saying a lot here”.

However, these photos have been edited. Banksy shared the original photos on Instagram on Monday 8 September, which show the mural depicts the person on the ground holding a placard splattered with blood, not a flag.

Passers-by can be seen in the exact same positions in the edited photos circulating online.

The mural was on an external wall of the Queen’s Building, which is part of the Royal Courts of Justice complex in London. It appeared days after almost 900 people were arrested at a London protest against the ban on the group Palestine Action.

The artwork was covered up and guarded, and has reportedly since been washed away, although the shapes of the figures depicted in it remain visible at the time of writing. Full Fact could not find any evidence that the real mural had been changed to feature any flags before it was partly removed.

The Metropolitan Police said it received a report of criminal damage and was undergoing inquiries.

Full Fact contacted Banksy’s press office, but it declined to comment.

We’ve written a guide with advice on identifying misleading images, as well as a toolkit for navigating bad information more generally online.