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The revolution won't be televised, yet it might possess amphibious toes and protruding eyes.

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

As protests opposing the leadership continue in American cities, demonstrators are utilizing the energy of a neighborhood dress-up party. They've provided dance instruction, given away treats, and performed on unicycles, while police observe.

Blending levity and politics – an approach experts call "tactical frivolity" – has historical precedent. However, it has emerged as a hallmark of protests in the United States in the current era, used by both left and right.

One particular emblem has risen to become notably significant – the frog. It began when video footage of a clash between a protester in an amphibian costume and federal officers in Portland, Oregon, went viral. It subsequently appeared to protests nationwide.

"There's a lot happening with that little inflatable frog," says a professor, who teaches at UC Davis and a Guggenheim Fellow who specialises in performance art.

From the Pepe Meme to Portland

It is difficult to discuss protests and frogs without talking about Pepe, a cartoon character co-opted by extremist movements throughout a previous presidential campaign.

As the meme gained popularity online, it was used to express specific feelings. Afterwards, it was utilized to endorse a political figure, even one notable meme endorsed by the candidate himself, showing Pepe with a signature suit and hair.

Images also circulated in right-wing online communities in darker contexts, portrayed as a historical dictator. Online conservatives traded "unique frog images" and established cryptocurrency in his name. His catchphrase, "that feels good", was deployed an inside joke.

However its beginnings were not so controversial.

Its creator, artist Matt Furie, has expressed about his unhappiness for its co-option. His creation was meant as simply a "chill frog-dude" in his series.

Pepe first appeared in comic strips in the mid-2000s – non-political and notable for a quirky behavior. In a documentary, which documents the creator's attempt to reclaim ownership of his creation, he explained his drawing came from his life with companions.

Early in his career, Mr Furie experimented with sharing his art to new websites, where other users began to copy, alter, and reinterpret the frog. As Pepe spread into darker parts of the internet, the creator tried to disavow the frog, even killing him off in a comic strip.

Yet the frog persisted.

"This demonstrates that we don't control icons," says the professor. "Their meaning can evolve and be repurposed."

Until recently, the association of Pepe resulted in frogs became a symbol for conservative politics. But that changed on a day in October, when an incident between a protestor wearing a blow-up amphibian suit and an immigration officer in Portland, Oregon went viral.

The event came just days after an order to send the National Guard to Portland, which was described as "a warzone". Activists began to assemble in large numbers outside a facility, just outside of an ICE office.

Emotions ran high and an immigration officer sprayed pepper spray at the individual, targeting the air intake fan of the puffy frog costume.

Seth Todd, Seth Todd, responded with a joke, remarking it tasted like "something milder". However, the video spread everywhere.

Mr Todd's attire was somewhat typical for the city, known for its quirky culture and activist demonstrations that delight in the unusual – outdoor exercise, 80s-style aerobics lessons, and nude cycling groups. A local saying is "Keep Portland Weird."

This symbol even played a role in subsequent court proceedings between the federal government and the city, which claimed the deployment was illegal.

Although the court ruled in October that the administration was within its rights to send personnel, one judge dissented, mentioning the protesters' "propensity for wearing chicken suits when expressing opposition."

"Observers may be tempted this decision, which adopts the description of Portland as a battlefield, as merely absurd," Judge Susan Graber opined. "Yet the outcome has serious implications."

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

But by then, the frog was now a potent anti-administration symbol for the left.

The inflatable suit was spotted across the country at No Kings protests last autumn. Amphibian costumes were present – along with other creatures – in San Diego and Atlanta and Boston. They appeared in small towns and big international cities abroad.

The frog costume was in high demand on major websites, and saw its cost increase.

Controlling the Optics

The link between the two amphibian symbols – lies in the interplay between the silly, innocent image and a deeper political meaning. Experts call this "tactical frivolity."

This approach rests on what Mr Bogad calls the "irresistible image" – usually humorous, it acts as a "disarming and charming" act that highlights your ideas without needing explicitly stating them. This is the unusual prop used, or the meme circulated.

The professor is both an expert in the subject and a veteran practitioner. He authored a book on the subject, and led seminars internationally.

"One can look back to the Middle Ages – under oppressive regimes, absurd humor is used to express dissent a little bit and still have plausible deniability."

The purpose of this approach is three-fold, Mr Bogad says.

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