Colonel Toad is an image macro featuring a watercolor of a toad dressed in 19th-century gentleman's clothing, modeled on Ingres' Portrait of Louis-François Bertin. The picture first appeared as an Etsy print in 2011 and became a widely shared reaction template after picking up traction on Twitter in mid-2020.
Origin
An Etsy store called paintingbrooklyn started selling the watercolor as a shippable print under the name "Colonel Toad" in 2011[1]. Pinterest user Carla Stey saved the image on August 1st, 2011, and an early copy still lives on that pin today[1]. The paintingbrooklyn shop went inactive some time afterward.
Meme edits did not appear until six years later. On October 6th, 2017, the Facebook page Viva La Frog Memes posted a version quoting lyrics from Big Shaq's "Man's Not Hot" and cross-posted it to Instagram, where it picked up 61 likes over four years[3].
- Platform: Etsy / Pinterest (source), Twitter and Reddit (viral spread)
- Creator: paintingbrooklyn (Etsy shop); Redditor SgtGhostie claims to have painted the watercolor
- Date: 2011
Overview
Colonel Toad, also called Sir Toad or "Frog In Suit Sitting In Chair," is an image macro built around a watercolor of a toad in formal 19th-century attire[1]. The pose directly echoes Jean Auguste Dominique Ingres' 1832 oil painting Portrait of Louis-François Bertin, with the amphibian substituted for the seated journalist[2]. Redditor SgtGhostie later claimed authorship of the original watercolor on r/frogs[9].
The subject is often mistaken for a frog, and the picture works both as a standalone reaction and as the visual for the "Gentlemen, It Is With Great Pleasure To Inform You That X" caption format[6]. It also folded into the running "It's Wednesday My Dudes" tradition on Reddit, giving the weekly frog joke a new face[7].
How It Spread
The image stayed niche until May 19th, 2020, when Twitter user @ChappellTracker posted Colonel Toad alongside another handsome-amphibian painting with the caption "guess what it's 𝕔𝕚𝕧𝕚𝕝𝕚𝕫𝕖𝕕 𝕗𝕣𝕠𝕘 𝕥𝕚𝕞𝕖," collecting roughly 125,600 likes over the next year and a half[4]. On August 23rd, 2020, @roobeekeane paired the toad with the line "when the Zoom call ends and I am left with my thoughts," clearing about 184,700 likes[5]. A Redditor turned that tweet into an Impact-font macro on r/trippinthroughtime the next day[8].
On January 13th, 2021, Redditor yayo123452 posted a Colonel Toad edit to r/memes that added the character to the ongoing "It's Wednesday My Dudes" lore, earning about 32,600 upvotes[7]. Variations kept surfacing through 2021 with the top caption fixed as "Gentlemen, it is with great pleasure that I inform you that," and the bottom line swapped for whatever the poster wanted to share[6]. On September 26th, 2021, Redditor Ac3_HUNT3r used the template to announce their birthday and pulled roughly 18,200 upvotes[10].
How to Use
Templates typically fix the top caption as "Gentlemen, it is with great pleasure that I inform you that," followed by whatever the poster wants to declare on the bottom line[6]. The announcement is often wholesome, absurd, or self-deprecating rather than snarky, playing off the character's dignified pose. Some variants drop the caption entirely and use the toad as a straight reaction for feeling composed, over-formal, or ready to deliver news[5].
Frequently Asked Questions
What is Colonel Toad?
Colonel Toad is an image macro featuring a watercolor of a toad dressed in 19th-century gentleman's clothing, based on Ingres' Portrait of Louis-François Bertin[2].
Where did Colonel Toad come from?
The image was first sold as an Etsy print by shop paintingbrooklyn in 2011 and shared to Pinterest by user Carla Stey that August[1].
What does Colonel Toad mean?
It is used as a dignified reaction image, often paired with the caption "Gentlemen, it is with great pleasure that I inform you that..." to announce something wholesome or absurd[6].
How do you use Colonel Toad?
Post the image with the standard top caption and swap the bottom line for whatever you want to share, from birthdays to inside jokes[10].
Is Colonel Toad still popular?
Peak spread ran from 2020 through 2021 across Twitter and Reddit, where the "Gentlemen" template and "It's Wednesday My Dudes" variants circulated widely[7].
