What is the rainbow dolphin meme?
The meme consists of dolphin images paired with grimly honest quotes. Basically, the rainbow dolphin (or symphony dolphin) meme is a funny, ironic way to share confessions. The dolphin illustrations are always really bright and magical-looking, with rainbows, hearts, and other fish. Meanwhile, the quotes pasted over the images range from concerning confessions and demotivational quotes to unhinged, silly statements. It’s also called the “symphony dolphin meme” because the song “Symphony,” by Swedish singer Zara Larsson, is often paired with it. For instance, one of the earliest examples of the meme from @heiratet on TikTok features a colorful illustration of a dolphin breaching the water and a text overlay reading “i’m depressed.”
The meme parodies “Hopecore” content on TikTok. Because of this, it’s sometimes called the “Hopecore dolphin meme” (in addition to rainbow dolphin and symphony dolphin). Hopecore TikTok posts typically feature images with wholesome, encouraging messages on them to give people a little happy boost and some optimism. By comparison, the rainbow dolphin meme features happy visuals and music, but ironically negative or absurd statements. The rainbow dolphin images themselves could be considered “hopecore,” as well as the song “Symphony,” but the meme itself definitely isn’t!
How to Use the Rainbow Dolphin Meme
Post your honest confessions with the rainbow dolphin meme. Your confession can be sad, dark, brutally honest, or just plain goofy—as long as it’s relatable. That’s the point of the meme! And even if you go the “sad” route, the meme can also help you find solidarity with others. After all, no matter what problem you joke about, someone else is dealing with the same thing (or something similar). For example, @memingeverything has a symphony dolphin meme with the text overlay “my therapist told me I’m the problem”. Additionally, @splatoon.bigman posted a dolphin meme video with the overlay “Im losing the will to live”. Meanwhile, for a more lighthearted version of an honest confession, @j0sie_secret posted a symphony dolphin video with the text overlay “im pooping”. Note: People sometimes use this meme to poke fun at their troubles, but this doesn’t mean your issues should be laughed at or ignored. It’s okay to make light of tough situations and process what you’re going through with a funny meme, but remember to take steps in your real life to address these problems, too!
Share a demotivational quote to make people laugh. Demotivational quotes are simply funny, ironic, or pessimistic statements (rather than encouraging, motivational ones). They’re meant to parody traditional motivational quotes, like Walt Disney’s “If you can dream it, you can do it.” So, if you want to participate in this TikTok trend, make up a demotivational quote and post it alongside the symphony dolphin. For instance, @kenobi32 posted a symphony dolphin meme with the demotivational statement: “This is fine. Everything is fine.”
Make a funny or unhinged statement to pair with the dolphin meme. Some dolphin rainbow memes aren’t quite confessions or demotivational quotes; they’re statements that are just plain silly, random, or downright weird. You can even choose a random thought or opinion you have, and post your statement with the dolphin meme—it’s all fair game! For instance, @luv4letitia posted a dolphin meme video with the overlay, “Stop leaving me on delivered, you’re not a celebrity.”
The Rainbow Dolphin Meme’s Song
Zara Larsson’s “Symphony” is a peppy, happy-sounding song. As we’ve mentioned already, this trend is also called the symphony dolphin meme because people on TikTok usually post the colorful dolphin illustration and contrasting statement with Zara Larsson’s 2017 hit song “Symphony” playing in the background. Because the song is so upbeat, it’s another way to emphasize the meme’s irony and humor.
Zara Larsson herself has reacted to the rainbow dolphin meme. The Swedish singer discovered TikTok’s rainbow dolphin trend, which took off in the summer of 2024, and made her own post on August 24 of that year. True to form, Larsson’s post included a dolphin illustration with the song “Symphony” playing, and text overlay that read “What the f**k is happening”. Then, in a concert that summer, Larsson used a colorful dolphin animation (with a rainbow) as her backdrop while singing “Symphony” live—to prove she was clearly in on the joke. Larsson’s fans got in on the fun! For instance, @laurianne.books.concerts posted a video of Larsson performing “Symphony” with the caption “You either die a hero or live long enough to become a meme and absolutely own it ✨”.
The Rainbow Dolphin Meme’s Template Illustration
One of the most popular dolphin illustrations is by Christian Riese Lassen. A few different dolphin illustrations can appear in various rainbow dolphin memes, but the most widely used image is one with a jumping dolphin, a rainbow overhead, fish swimming in the water below, and hearts added around the background. This illustration, titled “Enjoy Sunshine,” was created by artist Christian Riese Lassen. Lassen’s website describes his work as a “blend of the real and the imaginary.” You can also find blank video templates of the meme featuring various dolphin illustrations on TikTok (for example, here or here).
Where does the rainbow dolphin meme come from?
The first rainbow dolphin meme may have been posted in August 2024. It’s hard to say with certainty when the first rainbow dolphin meme was created, but the earliest known post comes from TikTok user @heiratet (who, as mentioned above, posted a video with dolphin art and the overlay “i’m depressed”). While that video is now unavailable, it was viewed over a million times in just a couple of months! TikTok user @heiratet posted several other symphony dolphin memes after the first went viral, including one with “i love alcohol” written on it (though they appear to have since been deleted).
The meme’s image was used in a viral trend from December 2022. Before the symphony dolphin meme took off, there was another meme trend where people would use magical dolphin illustrations as reaction images, pairing them with the phrase “How I see the world after…” The meme was all about sharing the positive feelings or optimism people can experience after a particular event or activity. For instance, one of the first “How I see the world” memes was posted to Instagram on December 3, 2022 by user @gorillagripcoochie69. The meme features an image of a rainbow over a bright, grassy field and blue sky, with the text overlay “How i see the world after i eat a big sandwich”.
More Examples of the Rainbow Dolphin Meme
Looking for a few more rainbow dolphin memes to sink your teeth into? No problem! A lot of people (and even businesses or institutions with TikTok accounts, for that matter) joined in on the trend—so there are plenty of videos to see. For instance: On its official TikTok account, Arby’s posted a dolphin meme with text reading “12 Arby’s sliders could fix me”. TikTok user @_shawnee posted a dolphin meme with the text “Im going f**king insane”. TikTok user @nemohasthefood posted a dolphin meme with the text “I am mentally unstable”. The Winchester Mystery House (a supposedly haunted house and attraction in California) also got its own rainbow dolphin meme; the video, posted to its official account, reads, “i am afraid of the dark”. Even the Victoria police (in Australia) made their own rainbow dolphin meme with the text overlay “using your phone while driving makes us sad”.
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