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Historical Union Jack flag cartoons (United Kingdom)

Satirical skull and cross bones union flag

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Satirical skull and cross bones union flag

image located by David B. Lawrence, 23 July 2008
[Click on image for larger version.]

This satirical drawing by George Cruikshank refers to the political situation after the Napoleonic Wars when there was social unrest and agitation for political reform in the United Kingdom. It was drawn to illustrate an anonymous poem published by the radical humourist William Hone, called 'The Man in the Moon' which parodied the nursery rhyme to satirise the Prince Regent and his government. He is portrayed as the Regent of 'Lunitaria', a corrupt and oppressive state. The drawing refers to the lines:
   " And though the Radicals still want food
     A few STEEL LOZENGES will stop their pain
     And set the Constitution right again."

I found it in ' The Laughter of Triumph ' by Ben Wilson, Faber & Faber 2005 (isbn 0571224709 ). Years later Cruikshank provided drawings for Dicken's novels ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Cruikshank ).
David B. Lawrence, 23 July 2008