Jamie Reid's (b.1947) cut-and-paste aesthetic developed from his interest in radical politics. His artistic style developed while at art college in Croydon, where he was influenced by the ideas of the avant-garde political group, the Situationist International. The political slant to his art was aroused by the May 1968 Paris student riots, which inspired fraternal protests organised by Reid at the Croydon College of Art. These were directed with fellow student Malcolm McLaren (1946-2010), later to become the manager of the Sex Pistols.

This t-shirt promotes the release of the Sex Pistols single, God Save The Queen, during the Queen's Jubilee in June 1977. In May of that year, the band had signed with Virgin Records, their third record label since forming in 1975. God Save The Queen was to be their first single released on the label. Not only did the song cause much controversy, but so did the artwork. The sleeve's platemakers were offended by the image of the Queen in Reid's design and initially refused to print it. In 2001, however, it was named the greatest record cover of all time by writers of the British rock music magazine, Q.