Kiss Me Frog and Flowers

Pink background with a green frog in the center surrounded by flowers. The frog has black spots on its legs and the sides of its torso. Below the frog is green text with a black rectangle background and a green border around the rectangle.

The idea of kissing a frog comes from a traditional fairy tale, The Frog Prince, most notably retold by the Brothers Grimm. They published their version in the early 19th century; however, scholars have found versions of the story dating back to the 13th century. The fairy tale is about a spoiled princess who meets a Frog Prince. She falls into a pond, dropping a golden ball, and he retrieves it; for a price, he seeks her friendship. When she agrees and he returns the ball, it's discovered he is under a witch's curse and is magically transformed into a handsome prince. Over the years, the story has been modified with the most common version requiring a kiss from the princess to change the Frog Prince. The image here shows a shorthand reference to the story; the frog is looking for a kiss.

In the mid-1970s, the saying "you have to kiss a lot of frogs before you meet a prince" gained popularity. A variation was first found in needlepoint patterns, then newspaper articles aimed at single women looking for love.  In 1977, a copyright was created for a pen and ink drawing of an amphibian wearing a crown with text reading, "You have to kiss a lot of frogs before you meet a prince."