Puking Rainbows is a drawing gag that shows a cute character, often an anthropomorphized rainbow itself, vomiting a bright multicolored stream. It began with a 2006 I-mockery post about Little Tokyo's loud Japanese snack packaging and grew into a full curation site, art-class assignment, and a Charlie the Unicorn running joke.
Origin
The idea came from a blog post on I-mockery by site owner RoG on August 6, 2006, describing a trip to Little Tokyo in Los Angeles. In reviewing a Japanese supermarket, RoG called out the neon packaging of the snacks and joked that it looked like a rainbow had thrown up[3]. Readers answered the joke within days with their own drawings of puking rainbows.
On August 17, 2006, RoG domain-registered the single-topic blog RainbowPuke.com and turned it into a gallery for reader submissions of the gag[3].
- Platform: I-mockery blog / RainbowPuke.com (viral spread)
- Creator: RoG (I-mockery)
- Date: 2006
Overview
Puking Rainbows pairs cute character design with the unsavory act of throwing up, swapping anything realistic for a bright multicolored stream. The earliest versions drew a smiling rainbow arc mid-heave, spitting out yet another rainbow from its mouth[3]. Over time illustrators applied the same joke to cats, unicorns, stick figures and photographed people, keeping the gag but shifting the subject.
Cute Overload featured a nice series of rainbow-vomit images in April 2007 as an ironic answer to viewers overwhelmed by saccharine art[1]. Urban Dictionary entries added a second meaning, where saying you are "puking rainbows" is a sarcastic way to describe reluctance toward something excessively sugary or sentimental[2].
How to Use
Artists typically draw a cute subject mid-vomit and replace the expected fluid with a bright rainbow stream. The setup often includes a smiling or wide-eyed character so the tone stays cute rather than gross. Some people use the image sincerely for over-the-top sweetness, and others use the phrase sarcastically to react to something they find too sugary[2].
Frequently Asked Questions
What is Puking Rainbows?
It is a drawing gag where a cute character, often a rainbow itself, vomits a bright multicolored stream instead of anything realistic[3].
Where did Puking Rainbows come from?
The joke began with an August 6, 2006 I-mockery blog post by RoG about Little Tokyo's neon Japanese snack packaging, and readers answered with their own rainbow-vomit drawings within days[3].
What does Puking Rainbows mean?
It can be a sincere cute-gross art gag, or a sarcastic phrase for reacting to something so sugary or sentimental that it makes you want to gag[2].
How do you use Puking Rainbows?
Draw a cute subject mid-vomit and replace the fluid with a rainbow stream, or say "I'm puking rainbows" to comment on excessive sweetness[2].
Is Puking Rainbows still popular?
The image is a classic gag from the mid-2000s art-blog era and still appears in illustrations and merch, though its peak was between 2006 and 2010 on I-mockery, deviantART and Charlie the Unicorn[1][3].
