Pledge Allegiance to the Flag, 2008
Oil on canvas
76.2 x 61 cm (30×24 inches)
Unique
Signed with initials and dated “25-Feb-08” on the overlap
Sotheby’s London:15 October 2010
GBP 82,850
Pledge Allegiance to the Flag shows a group of children surrounding a flagpole. Instead of raising a flag, one of them is raising a Tesco branded plastic bag while the other two are pledging their allegiance with their hands on their hearts, against a serene blue background. Banksy also released a screen-print entitled Very Little Helps, a cutting reference to Tesco’s famous slogan “Every little helps”, Banksy denounces the presence of the supermarket chain on almost every high street in Britain, and, in some ways, its forcing out of diversity and independence. Obviously, the flag also illustrates the theory that some corporations have become so large and ever-present in our everyday lives that they are as powerful as nation states.
