My Public Archive of Protest Signs

Formerly just #TeslaTakedown protest signs, this post is now more general — protest signs against the growing authoritarianism that Donald Trump is trying to normalize. For all except the two at the bottom, I've included a link where you can download a PDF to print your own. Please use these if you'd like; if you want to give me something in exchange, just tag me on Mastodon or Bluesky so I know how far these have spread.

Also, Marc Lee from Free Protest Signs reached out on Bluesky to let me know about his website of signs. If you don't like something below, maybe one of his will suit your mood!

Respect My Authoritah!

The protest sign features a cartoon character with the body of Eric Cartman from South Park, dressed in a police uniform, and a face resembling Donald Trump. The character is angrily shouting. Next to the character, the text reads 'RESPECT MY AUTHORITAH!' in bold teal letters. Below, in stylized orange and yellow text, it states 'No Kings in America.' The design humorously critiques authority, blending pop culture with a political message. — *Respect My Authoritah!* protest sign, first used on 14-Jun-2025

Of the two signs that I'm bringing to the #NoKingsInAmerica protest, this is the snarky one. Trump's attitude and actions in the ICE raid protests in Los Angeles and elsewhere reminded me of Eric Cartman from South Park screaming, "Respect My Authoritah!"

Download and print your own 26" by 16" version of this sign.

Three Branches

The protest sign emphasizes the roles of the three government branches with phrases: 'Legislative: Investigate!' and 'Executive: Follow the Law!' and 'Judicial: Defend the Bench!' in blue and red lettering. Below, 'Three Co-Equal Branches' is displayed in a mix of blue and red. The background features alternating gray and white stripes, reinforcing the message of balance and cooperation among the branches. — *Three Branches* protest sign, first used on 14-Jun-2025

I've had this one in my protest design document for a while, and now seems like a very good time to make it real. The U.S. Constitution lays out three branches of government, and right now we are seeing inaction (the legislature), abuse (the executive), and under siege (the judicial). We need the legislature to step up, support the judiciary, and tell the executive to knock it off.

Download and print your own 26" by 16" version of this sign.

Dictators Hold Parades

The protest sign shows a composite image of Donald Trump and Kim Jong Un shaking hands with rows of marching soldiers in the background. Bold text at the top reads 'Dictators Hold Parades' and at the bottom, 'Not Democracies.' The image critiques authoritarian displays of power, contrasting them with democratic values. The military parade emphasizes the message against dictatorial practices. — *Dictators Hold Parades* protest sign, first used on 14-Jun-2025

My daughter was listening to a story from The Daily from the New York Times and shouted out, "that's my sign!" The guest had been talking about how Trump's parade in Washington, DC, is un-American and something that dictatorships do. A little photo searching and editing later...this sign was born.

Download and print your own 26" by 16" version of this sign.

All of the ABOVE!

The protest sign presents a multiple-choice question format. Options are labeled: — *All of the ABOVE!* protest sign, first used on 26-Apr-2025

The meanness, the illegality, the stupidity...it is all more than I thought possible and it is certainly not what deserve from our government. And it is not just one of these attributes, but all of them coming from all of this administration's elected, confirmed, and senior leaders.

Download and print your own 26" by 16" version of this sign.

Elected Assholes

The protest sign features bold black text on a white background stating, — *Elected Assholes* protest sign, not used by the author

This crap is well past getting out of hand, and I wanted a sign that reflected that. The government—in my name as one of its citizens—is deporting people without due process? It is bullying foreign leaders in the Oval Office? It is recklessly dismantling medical research, food safety programs, and environmental controls? This doesn't represent my values, nor—I'd wager—the values of most of the country.

The focus group (my family members) weren't a fan of the unnecessary crassness of the sign. I want to so something with the concept of "My GOVERNMENT did WHAT?!?", so I'll probably revisit this.

Download and print your own 26" by 16" version of this sign. Or download its more vulgar companion.

Disaster Musk

The image features the “Disaster Girl” meme with a twist: the face of Elon Musk is pasted over the girl’s. In the background, a house is engulfed in flames, with firefighters and onlookers nearby. The expression conveys a sense of mischievous calm amid chaos, adding humor to the scene. — *Disaster Musk* protest sign, first used on 12-Apr-2025

A few weeks ago, I saw the picture of a smirking Elon Musk in a New York Times article, and I knew I needed to make use of it somehow. Inspiration struck this week when I remembered the 'Disaster Girl' meme. The picture with a four-year-old girl looking back at the camera as a firefighters battle a house fire with the "devilish smirk" is a perfect fit for what Elon is doing to our federal government.

Download and print your own 26" by 16" version of this sign.

Get Angry at Billionaires

The protest sign features bold text against a bright red background, stating, “I'm not MAD at you. Don't be MAD at me. Let's both get ANGRY at the BILLIONAIRES RUINING the COUNTRY.” The words “MAD,” “ANGRY,” and “BILLIONAIRES” are emphasized in larger, eye-catching fonts. On the right side, there's an image of a smiling Elon Musk, crossed out with a red circle and line, signifying opposition. The overall design is vivid, conveying frustration towards billionaires. — *Get Angry at Billionaires* protest sign, first used on 5-Apr-2025.

Returning to the theme of my first protest sign, I wanted to convey that the people giving us the middle finger as they drive by have more in common with us than they do with the billionaires they are supporting. Or, if you still want to be up in arms with me, then just come stand an hour at the protest and get your free check from George Soros for protesting. (← sarcasm)

Download and print your own 26" by 16" version of this sign.

Signals

The protest sign features bold red text saying, “The SIGNAL is coming from INSIDE the house!” Surrounding the text are cut-out images of six individuals, indicating figures of political or public interest. In the background, an image of the White House is visible, with the American flag prominently displayed. — *Signals* protest sign, first used on 29-Mar-2025.

This was the week that the news broke about senior government officials using the consumer-grade chat app Signal to discuss warn plans. I went off-script that week with a sign about that political nonsense. It is a play on the phrase "The call is coming from inside the house!" — a play on a famous movie trope where the police tell the person in a home that they have traced the antagonist's call to that home. In this case, the danger to democracy is coming from inside the Whitehouse! Or, at least, that is what I was aiming for.

Download and print your own 26" by 16" version of this sign.

Elon MUSKed Up

Protest sign with bold text: 'Our GOVERNMENT was FINE' in black and blue, followed by 'Now it is MUSKed UP!' in red. An image of Elon Musk is crossed out with a red circle and line. The bottom displays 'Fire Elon' in flaming orange letters. — *Elon MUSKed Up*, first used on 22-Mar-2025

Back to basics, I thought. People are driving by quickly, so too much text won't be read. So this was the idea:

Set the context: "Our GOVERNMENT was FINE."
Deliver the punchline: "Now it is MUSKed UP!"
Clear call-to-action: "FIRE ELON!" (in a flaming font, nonetheless)

And that seemed to work. This might have been my best sign yet.

Download and print your own 26" by 16" version of this sign.

DEMOCRACY, not MUSKocracy, not TRUMPocracy

Protest sign featuring the words “DEMOCRACY” in bold blue letters, with “Kings and Oligarchs are not American” in red and blue beneath. Images of Elon Musk and Donald Trump are crossed out with red circles and lines. The sign reads “Not MUSKocracy, Not TRUMPocracy” in bold blue and red text. — DEMOCRACY, not MUSKocracy, not TRUMPocracy protest sign, first used 15-Mar-2025.

This was my second protest sign, and I'm clearly still working on the craft. Although the points of this sign didn't require a blog post to explain, it still had too many words on it. That made it hard to read from cars that were driving by. It might have been okay without the "Kings and Oligarchs are not American" in the middle, but without it I thought it lost its punch. I'm feeling pretty ambivalent about it, so I haven't gone through the process of making it available for download; let me know if you'd like to have a printable version.

Our Fellow Americans

This is the first sign I made for a #TeslaTakedown, and I should have listened to my family. They suggested that the initial version, without the "How much do you have in common with Elon Musk?" at the bottom, was too confusing. Adding that sentence improved understanding, but now there was too much to read in a protest sign for cars whizzing past. My point was that me and the person driving by giving me a middle finger have far more in common than what either of us have with Elon Musk (and Donald Trump). Even so, I felt like I needed a blog post to fully explain what I meant. I'm feeling pretty ambivalent about this one, too, but if you'd like a printable version please let me know.

Although this was my first sign, it was my second #TeslaTakedown protest. I learned quickly that signs are an important part of the protest spirit, and the more creative the better.