The long history of frogs as symbols of protest

Think about it Like “Where’s Waldo?” For the anti-Trump movement: Last Saturday, as an estimated 7 million people filled American cities for the latest “No Kings” protests, many of them showed up in frog bodysuits.

The amphibians were easy to spot in the sea of ​​signs, and their inspiration seemed clear: They had seen images of protesters outside an Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in Portland, Oregon, holding “Frogs are stronger together” signs, and they followed suit. The meme had spread.

Since the weekend, TikTok, Instagram, Bluesky and other social media platforms have been flooded with images and videos of inflatable frogs on the streets. The TikTok Store now features “Portland Frog Protest Stickers” with the word “Resistance.” At a time when people are posting everything, it is expected that acts of protest or political theater will go viral. Even US President Donald Trump reacted to Saturday’s events by sharing an AI-generated video of himself spewing feces on US protesters from a jet. But there is something different about frogs. there is Layers From meaning and function, from Pepe to pepper spray and beyond.

For one, there is the issue of surveillance. Americans have become increasingly aware that when they protest, they are being watched by the authorities. Dressing up as a cartoon frog or any other creature will make it harder for someone to recognize your face. As more people wear the poofy green outfit, each becomes more anonymous than the wearer.

Then there is the absurdity factor. The costumed demonstrators defied the image of black protesters often demonized by Trump. “There’s anarchy there,” Trump said in late September as he sought to deploy the Oregon National Guard to Portland in response to protests at the city’s ICE facility. (A judge later blocked the deployment.) In 2020, Trump sent federal law enforcement officers to Portland to deal with Black Lives Matter protests, and images emerging from the city looked like chaos, even if, as WIRED wrote at the time, “what’s happening on the streets isn’t what you see in the tweets.” Earlier this month, the original frog, Seth Todd, told The New York Times that the frog costume was created to “contrast the narrative that we’re violent extremists.”

Brooks Brown, one of the founders of Operation Inflation, which gives out free bodysuits to demonstrators in the city, says it’s also less likely that a bystander will say, ‘Maybe the frog deserves it’ if it’s pepper-sprayed. “You can’t do that with a frog or a unicorn or a wiener or SpongeBob,” Brown adds. “It breaks people’s ability to justify the victim and shows the violence itself purely.”

Brown is quick to credit Todd with the costume idea. When people joined Todd in other costumes, Brown, a YouTuber, says he partnered with another streamer to start Operation Inflation as a way to raise money to buy costumes for others. She wouldn’t say how much money they raised, but said they provided about 300 costumes, 200 of which were Kingless at last weekend’s protest. It’s getting harder for Brown to get clothes and the prices are going up.