  Lattice simulations along with studies in continuum QCD indicate that
non-perturbative quantum fluctuations lead to an infrared regularisation of the
gluon propagator in covariant gauges in the form of an effective mass-like
behaviour. In the present work we propose an analytic understanding of this
phenomenon in terms of gluon condensation through a dynamical version of the
Higgs mechanism, leading to the emergence of color condensates. Within the
functional renormalisation group approach we compute the effective potential of
covariantly constant field strengths, whose non-trivial minimum is related to
the color condensates. In the physical case of an SU(3) gauge group this is an
octet condensate. The value of the gluon mass obtained through this procedure
compares very well to lattice results and the mass gap arising from alternative
dynamical scenarios.
