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This resistance may not be televised, yet it might possess webbed feet and protruding eyes.

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

While rallies against the administration continue in US cities, protesters are utilizing the vibe of a community costume parade. They have taught salsa lessons, handed out snacks, and performed on unicycles, as police observe.

Combining levity and political action – an approach experts call "tactical frivolity" – is not new. However, it has emerged as a signature characteristic of protests in the United States in recent years, used by both left and right.

And one symbol has emerged as particularly salient – the frog. It originated after a video of an encounter between a man in an amphibian costume and ICE agents in the city of Portland, spread online. It subsequently appeared to protests nationwide.

"There is much at play with that little frog costume," notes a professor, who teaches at UC Davis and a Guggenheim Fellow who studies performance art.

The Path From the Pepe Meme to the Streets of Portland

It is difficult to discuss protests and frogs without addressing Pepe, a web comic frog adopted by online communities during an election cycle.

As this image initially spread on the internet, it was used to express certain emotions. Afterwards, it was deployed to show support for a political figure, including a particular image endorsed by the candidate personally, depicting Pepe with recognizable attire and hairstyle.

Images also circulated in certain internet forums in darker contexts, portrayed as a hate group member. Participants traded "rare Pepes" and set up digital currency in his name. His catchphrase, "feels good, man", became a shared phrase.

However the character did not originate as a political symbol.

Its creator, the illustrator, has been vocal about his unhappiness for how the image has been used. The character was intended as simply an apolitical figure in this artist's universe.

Pepe first appeared in comic strips in 2005 – apolitical and famous for a particular bathroom habit. In 'Feels Good Man', which documents Mr Furie's efforts to reclaim ownership of his work, he explained his drawing came from his life with companions.

When he began, Mr Furie tried uploading his work to the nascent social web, where other users began to copy, alter, and reinterpret the frog. As its popularity grew into fringe areas of the internet, the creator sought to reject the frog, including ending its life in a comic strip.

However, its legacy continued.

"This demonstrates the lack of control over imagery," states the professor. "They can change and shift and be repurposed."

Until recently, the association of Pepe meant that frogs were predominantly linked to the right. This shifted on a day in October, when an incident between an activist dressed in a blow-up amphibian suit and a federal agent in Portland, Oregon spread rapidly online.

This incident came just days after a directive to send military personnel to the city, which was called "a warzone". Demonstrators began to assemble in large numbers outside a facility, just outside of a federal building.

The situation was tense and an agent used a chemical agent at the individual, directing it into the ventilation of the puffy frog costume.

The protester, Seth Todd, reacted humorously, remarking he had tasted "something milder". But the incident spread everywhere.

The costume was somewhat typical for Portland, known for its quirky culture and activist demonstrations that delight in the unusual – public yoga, 80s-style aerobics lessons, and nude cycling groups. Its creed is "Embrace the Strange."

The frog became part of in the ensuing legal battle between the administration and Portland, which argued the deployment overstepped authority.

While the court ruled that month that the administration had the right to send personnel, one judge dissented, mentioning demonstrators' "propensity for donning inflatable costumes when expressing dissent."

"Some might view the majority's ruling, which accepts the description of Portland as a battlefield, as simply ridiculous," Judge Susan Graber opined. "Yet the outcome is not merely absurd."

The action was stopped legally subsequently, and personnel withdrew from the city.

However, by that time, the frog had transformed into a significant symbol of resistance for the left.

The costume was spotted across the country at anti-authoritarian protests that fall. There were frogs – and unicorns and axolotls and dinosaurs – in major US cities. They were in rural communities and global metropolises like Tokyo and London.

The inflatable suit was sold out on online retailers, and became more expensive.

Mastering the Optics

What connects both frogs together – is the interplay between the silly, innocent image and a deeper political meaning. This concept is "tactical frivolity."

The strategy relies on what Mr Bogad terms a "disarming display" – often silly, it's a "disarming and charming" display that highlights your ideas without needing explicitly stating them. This is the goofy costume you wear, or the symbol circulated.

The professor is an analyst on this topic and a veteran practitioner. He's written a book on the subject, and led seminars internationally.

"You could go back to historical periods – when people are dominated, absurd humor is used to express dissent a little bit and while maintaining plausible deniability."

The theory of such tactics is multi-faceted, he says.

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