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This protest movement won't be televised, though it may feature webbed feet and bulging eyes.

It also might feature the horn of a unicorn or a chicken's feathers.

Whilst demonstrations against the government carry on in American cities, participants are utilizing the energy of a community costume parade. They've provided salsa lessons, handed out snacks, and performed on unicycles, as officers observe.

Mixing levity and political action – a tactic social scientists term "tactical frivolity" – has historical precedent. However, it has emerged as a defining feature of American protest in recent years, embraced by both left and right.

A specific icon has risen to become particularly salient – the frog. It began after video footage of a confrontation between an individual in an inflatable frog and ICE agents in Portland, Oregon, spread online. From there, it proliferated to rallies across the country.

"A great deal happening with that humble blow-up amphibian," notes LM Bogad, a professor at University of California, Davis and an academic who specialises in performance art.

The Path From Pepe to Portland

It's hard to examine protests and frogs without addressing Pepe, an illustrated figure adopted by extremist movements throughout a previous presidential campaign.

When the character first took off on the internet, people used it to signal specific feelings. Afterwards, it was utilized to show support for a political figure, including a particular image endorsed by that figure himself, showing the frog with a signature suit and hair.

Images also circulated in digital spaces in darker contexts, as a hate group member. Participants traded "unique frog images" and established cryptocurrency in his name. Its famous line, "feels good, man", was deployed a coded signal.

Yet its beginnings were not as a political symbol.

Its creator, the illustrator, has stated about his distaste for its appropriation. Pepe was supposed to be simply a relaxed amphibian in his series.

The frog first appeared in an online comic in the mid-2000s – non-political and famous for a particular bathroom habit. In a documentary, which chronicles Mr Furie's efforts to take back of his creation, he explained the character came from his life with friends and roommates.

When he began, the artist tried uploading his work to new websites, where people online began to copy, alter, and reinterpret his character. When the meme proliferated into the more extreme corners of the internet, the creator tried to disavow his creation, even killing him off in a comic strip.

However, its legacy continued.

"This demonstrates that creators cannot own symbols," explains the professor. "They can change and shift and be repurposed."

For a long time, the notoriety of Pepe resulted in amphibian imagery were predominantly linked to conservative politics. A transformation occurred recently, when a confrontation between an activist wearing a blow-up amphibian suit and a federal agent in Portland went viral.

This incident followed a decision to send military personnel to the city, which was called "a warzone". Protesters began to gather in droves at a specific location, near a federal building.

The situation was tense and a officer used pepper spray at a protester, directing it into the air intake fan of the costume.

Seth Todd, Seth Todd, reacted humorously, saying it tasted like "spicier tamales". However, the video spread everywhere.

The frog suit was not too unusual for the city, renowned for its quirky culture and left-wing protests that embrace the ridiculous – outdoor exercise, retro fitness classes, and unique parades. The city's unofficial motto is "Embrace the Strange."

The costume was also referenced in subsequent court proceedings between the federal government and the city, which argued the deployment overstepped authority.

While a ruling was issued that month that the administration was within its rights to send personnel, a minority opinion disagreed, noting in her opinion demonstrators' "well-known penchant for donning inflatable costumes while voicing opposition."

"Observers may be tempted the majority's ruling, which adopts the description of Portland as a war zone, as simply ridiculous," the dissenting judge wrote. "But today's decision is not merely absurd."

The action was stopped legally subsequently, and personnel have reportedly departed the city.

But by then, the frog was now a powerful symbol of resistance for the left.

This symbol appeared in many cities at anti-authoritarian protests that fall. Frogs appeared – and unicorns and axolotls and dinosaurs – in San Diego and Atlanta and Boston. They were in small towns and global metropolises abroad.

The frog costume was in high demand on major websites, and rose in price.

Mastering the Narrative

What brings the two amphibian symbols – is the relationship between the silly, innocent image and underlying political significance. This is what "tactical frivolity."

The tactic is based on what Mr Bogad terms a "disarming display" – usually humorous, it's a "appealing and non-threatening" act that highlights a cause without needing obviously explaining them. This is the goofy costume used, or the symbol circulated.

The professor is both an expert in the subject and a veteran practitioner. He's written a text called 'Tactical Performance', and led seminars internationally.

"You could go back to the Middle Ages – when people are dominated, they use absurdity to express dissent indirectly and while maintaining a layer of protection."

The idea of such tactics is three-fold, he explains.

As activists confront authority, humorous attire {takes control of|seizes|influences