60 flags conjuring up the spirit of Bankside currently fly inside Borough Market's Jubilee Place. The designs — some of them rather raunchy — are the result of a collaboration between Better Bankside and NB Studio.
The flags will move to different locations across Bankside — although one could ultimately end up in your living room. They're being auctioned off right now, to raise money for Better Bankside's community partners.
Here's a selection of the flags you can bid on:
A rather rude middle finger
Bankside was the Elizabethan Las Vegas. Everything that was fun, wicked and wrong happened here first.
Long Live Bankside, home of chaos. By Alan Dye
A word that's older than you thought
Earliest recorded uses of ‘Swagger’ are in Shakespeare’s Midsummer Night's Dream, Henry IV & King Lear. Meaning 'to strut in a defiant manner' reflecting the rebellious attitude of the area. Colours are taken from the mustards and greys of Bankside’s buildings and bridges. By Rachel Price
A sign you may have seen around
Bankside’s 'Commit No Nuisance’ sign reimagined. A call for visitors and dwellers to have more fun, within reason. By Nick Finney
The bear and the skull
There was acting and bear baiting in this place called ‘Bankside’ in the olden days although probably not at the same time. Now the acting persists, especially Shakespeare at the Globe, and this is Bear-let doing the 'alas poor Yorick' scene. By Paul Davis
Remembering the Winchester Geese
This flag is a playful tribute to the Winchester Geese, the Bankside prostitutes that once operated in the stews (brothels) on the Bishop of Winchester’s land. By Koto.
Boob B
Boob B. A nod to Bankside’s raunchy past. By Laura Bowman.
A cute bear
I chose a bear because of the history of bear baiting in the area, but decided to draw an anthropomorphic one (or in other words; cute). Another inspiration was one of my characters from Let's Make Some Great Fingerprint Art. By Marion Deuchars
A shooting tomato
To reflect the 'Independent Spirit of Bankside' and with a nod to Borough Market, I've used the idea of a produce-related protest and chosen a thrown tomato as a symbol of rebelliousness. The calyx of the tomato is a star, evocative of both revolutionary symbolism and flag graphics in general. Bankside pink is included on the left hand edge to imply the location of the miscreant. By Peter Gibbons
Fighting fists
Together, we raise our fists to ordinary. We are not confined by the city’s walls. And we don’t conform to the rigid rules of society inside it. We stand proudly as the people of Bankside, fighting for the arts, fighting for individuality, fighting for freedom of expression. Just as we’ve always done. This is the flag of rebellion. Long may it wave proudly across the river. By The Clearing
Banke Syde Coat of Arms
By Rebecca Sutherland
In a stew
Bankside’s brothels were known as ‘stews’ – this design is a literal representation of the humble meat and two veg dish. By Sam Pittman
Colourful Crossbones
I’ve walked past Crossbones Graveyard many times on my way to the Lord Clyde pub. Over the years it has revealed itself more and more in a way that is so difficult today: Mysteriously. My flag is a celebration of people who died without recognition and are buried there: The Outkast Dead! By Supermundane
The weight of the world
A twist on the sign that hung outside the Globe Tavern, the pub that sat adjacent to the famous Globe Theatre. The original sign depicted Hercules holding the world on his shoulders, and the caption underneath read "Totus mundus agit histrionem”, "All the world acts a play”. By Olly St John