The lichen was first formally described by German botanist Georg Franz Hoffmann in 1796, as Verrucaria badia.

In 1986, Austrian lichenologist Josef Hafellner transferred it to the newly created genus Protoparmelia, in which it is the type species.

[2] The thallus of Protoparmelia badia ranges in colour from pale to deep greyish-brown to yellowish brown.

It has a texture that is areolate (a pattern of block-like areas similar to cracked dried mud) to verrucose (covered with wartlike projections), and is shiny.

The spores made by this lichen are spindle-shaped (slightly pointed at both ends), measuring 10–16 by 3–7 μm.