# Colonel Toad
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.
## 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 πππ§ππππ«ππ ππ£π π π₯πππ," 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].
## References
1. [https://www.pinterest.com/pin/colonel-toad--127930015561559553/]()
2. [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portrait_of_Monsieur_Bertin]()
3. [https://www.instagram.com/viva_la_frog_memes/]()
4. [https://twitter.com/ChappellTracker]()
5. [https://twitter.com/roobeekeane]()
6. [https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/colonel-toad]()
7. [https://www.reddit.com/r/memes/]()
8. [https://www.reddit.com/r/trippinthroughtime/]()
9. [https://www.reddit.com/r/frogs/]()
10. [https://www.reddit.com/r/meme/]()
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Source: https://meme.com/memes/colonel-toad
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