Twentieth-century visual satire often features serpentine and reptilian monsters representing insidious deceivers or tempters who invade an otherwise peaceful, just, flourishing world. These images are reminiscent of Judeo-Christian scripture. Other variants include the ancient symbol of the ouroboros (a snake swallowing its own tail) as an emblem for a closed vicious cycle of propaganda and lies. There are also depictions of snake charming as a visual metaphor for a group of vicious people being manipulated and weaponized by a more powerful villain. Then there is the chameleon, a reptilian deceiver that camouflages its true nature under false, changing outward appearances — a cynical opportunist who alters its self-presentation to secure advantages in changing circumstances.

Siyaset Dünyasının Bukalemunu

(The chameleon of the political world), 12 Eylül/September, 1946

Kozma Togo (1895-1964) (Kosmas Theodoridis-Theo)

Karikatür, vol. 22, year 11, no. 559

Türkiye, Turkish

The hammer, sickle, and five-point star are Communist and Soviet symbols. In this caricature Joseph Stalin appears as a chameleon, implying that he is changeable and unreliable. This image circulated in Turkey in the wake of World War II, in which Turkey had remained neutral. Although the Soviet Union ultimately fought with the Allied Forces, Stalin famously negotiated pacts with Hitler.

蛇蝎美人

(Beautiful Viper), 1950

張文元 (Zhang Wenyuan) (dates unknown)

漫畫 (Man hua) 7 (December 1, 1950)

Chinese, China

The figure Nüwa (女媧) from Chinese mythology is a woman-serpent hybrid and creator of human beings. The cover of this Chinese magazine from 1950 features a monster representing a Western version of the humanoid serpent. An embodiment of a cynical American post-WWII imperialism disguised as principled altruism, this massive snake with the face of a glamorous American woman is reminiscent of seductive, deceptive serpents from Western iconographic traditions. The microphone — for transmission of a Voice of America broadcast — is propped up on a bomb and a stack of money.

Хамелеон

(Chameleon), 1951-52

Николай Олин (Nikolai Olin) (1909-1978)

Сатирикон (Satirikon), №6-7, December/January 1951-52

Germany, Russian

This caricature from an early 1950s Frankfurt-based satirical magazine for Russian émigrés portrays Soviet Foreign Minister Andrei Vyshinskii as a cynical shape-shifter, a chameleon who changes colors to adapt to political shifts. The text of the article presents an account of Vyshinskii’s career that has him altering his biography and identity several times in order to secure political advantage.

პროგნოზი

(Prognosis), 1932

გილჩევსკიას (Gil'chevskaia) (dates unknown)

ნიანგი (Crocodile), № 20 1932

Georgia, Georgian

The snake in a top hat is a visual trope for fascists (see the poster Republican Fascists in this section). Here it represents a Hungarian chief justice with Nazi allegiances who issued a death sentence for two Communist workers. The inscription at the bottom indicates the snake/justice’s awareness that, eventually, he himself will hang, having acted as the instrument of death for amoral forces that ultimately cannibalize their own ranks

Propaganda Yalanı

(Propaganda Lie), 7 Mart/March, 1940

Ramiz Gökçe (1900-1953)

Karikatür, vol. 9, year 5, no. 219

Türkiye, Turkish

The snake eating itself is an ouroboros representing propaganda lies. The caption reads: “The native creature, unable to find something to get its teeth into, consequently eats its own heart out,” showing that propaganda lies build on themselves, and in doing so, destroy their creator.

Минфин

(Min Fin), undated (circa 1987-89)

Николай Григорьевич Баев (Nikolai Grigor’evich Baev) (1919-)

USSR, Russian

This poster dates to the late 1980s, when Gorbachev’s policy of glasnost allowed publications to take aim at Soviet institutions and government agencies. It shows a constrictor with a coin purse face, representing the Soviet Ministry of Finance, squeezing the life out of a man holding a sheet of paper with the Russian word arenda, here referring to a kind of lease or government contract granted to a smaller citizen initiative.

Fascisti Repubblicani

(Republican Fascists), 1943-1945

U.S. Office of War Information

USA, Italian

The Republican Fascist Party was established by Benito Mussolini in 1943 after the Germans took control of Italy during World War II. Though it was nominally the ruling party of the Italian Social Republic, the country was in fact a puppet state of Germany. This poster, a piece of American propaganda put out by the U.S. Office of War Information, depicts Hitler charming a basketful of snakes labeled “Republican Fascists.”

Он притворяется хорошим

(He Pretends to Be Good), undated (circa 1987-89)

Николай Яковлевич Пивнев (Nikolai Iakovlevich Pivnev) (1924-2000)

USSR, Russian

Weaponizing religion’s own iconography against it, this image shows a serpent, the iconic tempter from the Judeo-Christian tradition, whose body is composed of proselytizing literature of American origin, including the Jehovah’s Witnesses magazine, Watchtower. The figure represents attempts by the CIA to infiltrate Soviet society using the seductive temptation of religious faith. The text reads: “He pretends to be “good”/ And calls on us to do “good.”/ But no one here falls for the sanctimony/ Of CIA agents.”

Антикоммунизм на службе империализма

(Anti-communism in the Service of Imperialism), 1986

Е. Васильев (E. Vasil’ev) (dates unknown)

USSR, Russian

A giant snake with dollar-sign markings slithers out from an American metropolitan skyline and is strangled by the giant hand of the Soviet warrior. The text above the skyline reads “Anti-communism in the service of imperialism,” and the words emerging from the snake’s jaws are: “Lies, Disinformation, Slander, Provocation.” Soviet authorities often presented the ostensible principles of American foreign policy — promotion of freedom and democracy — as a cynical mask for an imperialist agenda.

Всегда он в цвет

(Always the Right Color), undated (circa 1988-1990)

Владимир Канивест (Vladimir Kanivest) (1957-)

В. Капралова (V. Kapralova) (dates unknown), author of verse text

USSR, Russian

The chameleon seated at the desk represents the Soviet-era bureaucrat who had, in the perestroika era of the late 1980s, become eligible as a satirical target. This is the figure of the sycophantic, opportunist bureaucrat who monitors the direction of the wind and alters their self-presentation accordingly. The text reads: “He’s always the right color. He always strikes the right tone./ Not for nothing is he a chameleon!/ But whatever his tone or color,/ No good ever comes from the bureaucrat.” The text on the chameleon’s body represents slogans from different moments in Soviet history.