Never Forget

2007catchphraseclassic

'Never Forget' is a commemorative phrase mainly tied to the September 11th, 2001 attacks that got flipped online into an ironic template for overblown news stories and vanished pop-culture trivia. The joke pairs solemn memorial imagery like bald eagles and dated captions with something absurd, and it bounced across Reddit and image macro sites through the early 2010s before splintering into newer riffs like 'i forgor.'

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Overview

'Never Forget' works two ways online. The sincere version commemorates victims of the September 11th, 2001 attacks and got picked up by supporters of the War on Terror as a mantra and merchandising tag1. The ironic version keeps the reverent framing but attaches it to something trivial, like a two-day-old news story or a viral goof, mocking the way small events get treated as generational trauma.

The visual template is easy to spot. Common elements include an American flag or bald eagle, a fallen or minor object standing in for a fallen tower, and a date stamp in the 'MM/DD/YY' style used for real tragedies4. The mismatch between the memorial framing and the tiny subject is where the humor lives.

How It Spread

One of the earliest online jokes came from XKCD on January 1st, 2007, in a comic titled 'America.' Its timeline listed 'Jimmy Carter attacked by giant swimming rabbit' with the caption 'America must never forget'3. On January 31st, 2007, LED Mooninite placards from Aqua Teen Hunger Force were mistaken for bombs by Boston police, and locals reacted to the overreach with signs reading '1-31-07 Never Forget.'

The template hit critical mass in August 2011. After a small earthquake shook the U.S. East Coast on August 23rd, Redditor uncouthsilence5 posted an image macro to /r/pics of a bald eagle over a fallen lawn chair captioned '8/23/2011 / Never Forget,' pulling over 26,500 upvotes before being archived4. Similar mocking macros followed Hurricane Irene days later. On November 3rd, 2011, Redditor martinap posted '11/3/11 Never Forget' about the reaction to Google's 'Do a barrel roll' Easter egg. On September 14th, 2012, Redditor robotsongs cross-posted 'Never Forget: 9/14/11 [NSFW]' collecting Scarlett Johansson's leaked photos, hitting over 24,500 upvotes.

The catchphrase mutated again in February 2021 as the 'i forgor 💀' reaction meme spread, and users started making 'never forgor' and '9/11 i forgor' variants that flipped the somber phrase into absurdist forgetfulness2.

How to Use This Meme

Common convention pairs 'Never Forget' with a date stamp in 'MM/DD/YY' format and imagery lifted from 9/11 memorial content, often a bald eagle silhouette or an American flag, then swaps in a subject nobody actually mourns, like a fallen lawn chair or a canceled TV show4. The sincere use is a straight memorial caption on 9/11 imagery.

Frequently Asked Questions

Never Forget

2007catchphraseclassic

'Never Forget' is a commemorative phrase mainly tied to the September 11th, 2001 attacks that got flipped online into an ironic template for overblown news stories and vanished pop-culture trivia. The joke pairs solemn memorial imagery like bald eagles and dated captions with something absurd, and it bounced across Reddit and image macro sites through the early 2010s before splintering into newer riffs like 'i forgor.'

catchphrase memes ironic memes snowclone memes sarcasm memes co opted memes

Overview

'Never Forget' works two ways online. The sincere version commemorates victims of the September 11th, 2001 attacks and got picked up by supporters of the War on Terror as a mantra and merchandising tag1. The ironic version keeps the reverent framing but attaches it to something trivial, like a two-day-old news story or a viral goof, mocking the way small events get treated as generational trauma.

The visual template is easy to spot. Common elements include an American flag or bald eagle, a fallen or minor object standing in for a fallen tower, and a date stamp in the 'MM/DD/YY' style used for real tragedies4. The mismatch between the memorial framing and the tiny subject is where the humor lives.

How It Spread

One of the earliest online jokes came from XKCD on January 1st, 2007, in a comic titled 'America.' Its timeline listed 'Jimmy Carter attacked by giant swimming rabbit' with the caption 'America must never forget'3. On January 31st, 2007, LED Mooninite placards from Aqua Teen Hunger Force were mistaken for bombs by Boston police, and locals reacted to the overreach with signs reading '1-31-07 Never Forget.'

The template hit critical mass in August 2011. After a small earthquake shook the U.S. East Coast on August 23rd, Redditor uncouthsilence5 posted an image macro to /r/pics of a bald eagle over a fallen lawn chair captioned '8/23/2011 / Never Forget,' pulling over 26,500 upvotes before being archived4. Similar mocking macros followed Hurricane Irene days later. On November 3rd, 2011, Redditor martinap posted '11/3/11 Never Forget' about the reaction to Google's 'Do a barrel roll' Easter egg. On September 14th, 2012, Redditor robotsongs cross-posted 'Never Forget: 9/14/11 [NSFW]' collecting Scarlett Johansson's leaked photos, hitting over 24,500 upvotes.

The catchphrase mutated again in February 2021 as the 'i forgor 💀' reaction meme spread, and users started making 'never forgor' and '9/11 i forgor' variants that flipped the somber phrase into absurdist forgetfulness2.

How to Use This Meme

Common convention pairs 'Never Forget' with a date stamp in 'MM/DD/YY' format and imagery lifted from 9/11 memorial content, often a bald eagle silhouette or an American flag, then swaps in a subject nobody actually mourns, like a fallen lawn chair or a canceled TV show4. The sincere use is a straight memorial caption on 9/11 imagery.

Frequently Asked Questions