The Flying Copper motif made its debut to the public at Banksy’s 2003 exhibition Turf War with the work appearing hanging from the ceiling in life size cardboard cut-outs (several of which were later exhibited at Andipa in 2007). Following on from the exhibition, Flying Copper appeared as a street piece as a menacing row of them stencilled by the artist across a railway bridge in Shoreditch around the same time.

Flying Copper shows a riot policeman dressed in full combat gear equipped with a machine gun, helmet and walkie talkie. However, inhabiting the place of the character’s face is a large, round yellow (or pink) smiley face which is commonly associated with the Acid-house movement of the early 90’s. The paradoxical figure challenges the notion of a threatening police state with the subversive use of the cartoonish and childish face. The use of the Acid-house smiley can also be seen in other Banksy works such as Grin Reaper and Have A Nice Day. Disarming our notions of an aggressive and overreaching policeman, Banksy can be seen to be attacking the establishment and mocking the perception of power that such arms of the state have conferred on them through our social contract.