The French Burkini Ban meme originates from a series of controversial photographs taken in August 2016 on a beach in Nice, France. The images depict armed police officers confronting a woman and instructing her to remove her long-sleeved tunic in accordance with a local ban on the modest swimwear known as the burkini. The photos sparked an international outcry and became a symbol of the debate over secularism, Islamophobia, and women's rights. In internet culture, the template is used to highlight instances of state overreach, the enforcement of seemingly arbitrary rules, or the absurdity of authority figures focusing on minor issues while larger problems go unaddressed.