An early symbol of the alt-right, Pepe was appropriated from a comic book character of the same name. The comic’s creator, Matthew Furie, has repeatedly denounced white supremacists’ use of the character. Pepe is a versatile character whose smile is used to demonstrate ill intent in a wide variety of hate memes. Pepe’s face is often adapted to become an offensive caricature.

Alterations of Pepe based on Canadian iconography originated on the /pol board of 4Chan. Pepes imposed with Canadian flags or merged with visual representations of Canadian stereotypes are used to represent extremism, the alt-right, or 4Chan users in Canada.

Pepe sometimes appears in memes that are not hateful. For example, in 2019 Hong Kong activists used Pepe as a mascot for pro-democracy demonstrations. However, non-hateful uses of this symbol are uncommon in Canada.