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The revolution isn't televised, but it could have webbed feet and bulging eyes.

Additionally, it could include a unicorn's horn or the plumage of a chicken.

While protests opposing the government carry on in US cities, demonstrators have embraced the energy of a neighborhood dress-up party. They have taught dance instruction, distributed treats, and ridden unicycles, while police look on.

Mixing levity and political action – an approach researchers refer to as "tactical frivolity" – is not new. However, it has emerged as a signature characteristic of protests in the United States in the current era, embraced by various groups.

And one symbol has risen to become especially powerful – the frog. It started when recordings of a confrontation between an individual in an inflatable frog and federal officers in Portland, Oregon, spread online. From there, it proliferated to demonstrations across the country.

"There is much happening with that humble inflatable frog," says an expert, a professor at UC Davis and an academic who specialises in creative activism.

From a Cartoon Frog to Portland

It's hard to talk about demonstrations and amphibians without addressing Pepe, a cartoon character adopted by far-right groups during a political race.

Initially, when the character gained popularity online, its purpose was to signal specific feelings. Afterwards, it was utilized to show support for a candidate, even one notable meme endorsed by that figure personally, depicting Pepe with a signature suit and hair.

The frog was also portrayed in digital spaces in darker contexts, as a historical dictator. Online conservatives traded "unique frog images" and established digital currency using its likeness. His catchphrase, "feels good, man", was deployed a shared phrase.

However the character did not originate as a political symbol.

Its creator, the illustrator, has been vocal about his disapproval for how the image has been used. The character was intended as simply a relaxed amphibian in his series.

This character debuted in comic strips in 2005 – non-political and notable for a particular bathroom habit. In a documentary, which follows the creator's attempt to reclaim ownership of his work, he said his drawing came from his experiences with friends and roommates.

Early in his career, Mr Furie experimented with uploading his work to the nascent social web, where the community began to borrow, remix and reinvent the frog. When the meme proliferated into the more extreme corners of online spaces, the creator tried to disavow the frog, including ending its life in a comic strip.

However, its legacy continued.

"It proves that creators cannot own icons," says the professor. "They transform and be reclaimed."

For a long time, the association of Pepe resulted in amphibian imagery became a symbol for conservative politics. A transformation occurred on a day in October, when an incident between an activist dressed in a blow-up amphibian suit and an immigration officer in Portland, Oregon went viral.

The moment came just days after an order to send the National Guard to Portland, which was called "a warzone". Activists began to assemble in large numbers outside a facility, near a federal building.

Emotions ran high and an immigration officer used a chemical agent at the individual, targeting the air intake fan of the costume.

Seth Todd, Seth Todd, reacted humorously, remarking it tasted like "spicier tamales". Yet the footage went viral.

The costume fit right in for Portland, renowned for its quirky culture and activist demonstrations that delight in the ridiculous – public yoga, 80s-style aerobics lessons, and nude cycling groups. A local saying is "Embrace the Strange."

This symbol became part of in the ensuing legal battle between the federal government and the city, which argued the deployment overstepped authority.

Although a ruling was issued that month that the administration had the right to send personnel, a minority opinion disagreed, noting in her opinion demonstrators' "propensity for using unusual attire when expressing dissent."

"Some might view the majority's ruling, which accepts the description of Portland as a battlefield, as merely absurd," the dissenting judge opined. "But today's decision is not merely absurd."

The action was halted by courts just a month later, and troops are said to have left the city.

However, by that time, the amphibian costume had become a powerful anti-administration symbol for progressive movements.

The costume appeared nationwide at No Kings protests that fall. There were frogs – and unicorns and axolotls and dinosaurs – in San Diego and Atlanta and Boston. They were in rural communities and global metropolises like Tokyo and London.

The frog costume was backordered on major websites, and saw its cost increase.

Shaping the Optics

What connects Pepe and the protest frog – is the dynamic between the silly, innocent image and serious intent. This is what "tactical frivolity."

The strategy relies on what Mr Bogad terms a "disarming display" – often silly, it acts as a "disarming and charming" act that calls attention to a cause without needing directly articulating them. This is the unusual prop used, or the symbol circulated.

The professor is both an expert on this topic and a veteran practitioner. He authored a book called 'Tactical Performance', and led seminars internationally.

"One can look back to historical periods – when people are dominated, they use absurdity to speak the truth indirectly and while maintaining plausible deniability."

The theory of such tactics is three-fold, Mr Bogad says.

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