Nyan

Nyan is an onomatopoeic Japanese term representing a cat’s meow, usually written in hiragana as にゃん. In Japanese media it is used to convey feline sounds in dialogue and captions, and it has been adopted in global online culture to evoke cute or whimsical imagery associated with cats.

The best-known use outside of the language itself is the Internet meme Nyan Cat. Created in 2011 by artist Chris Torres, it depicts a gray domestic cat with a Pop-Tart body flying through space, trailing a rainbow. The image is presented as a looping animated GIF, often accompanied by a fast-paced synthesized song based on a short tune titled Nyanyanyany by Daniwell-P. After appearing on 4chan, the meme spread rapidly and inspired numerous remixes, parodies, and fan art. It became one of the enduring symbols of early meme culture and helped popularize the format of looping, text-free animations paired with music.

In subsequent years the Nyan Cat concept has appeared in various media projects and merchandise, and it is frequently referenced in discussions of Internet meme history. The original artwork has been subject to copyright considerations as with many user-generated memes, but the image remains widely recognized in online culture.