Okapi Guard Patch

This was the Zairian park guard patch. It featured a printed design of an okapi against a green outline of the country. The two brown and red designs on the side were the "fist and flame" taken from the national flag, and the material was folded over and hand-sewn on the back.

By the late nineties, I had been looking for years for this patch, probably because they were all worn out and were not being replaced. During the tumultuous years, the basics, such as uniforms for park guards, were ignored. On day, I met an official in a Bandundu Park, who offered to sell some grimy animal posters. "No," I said, "but you wouldn't happen to have a Park patch?"

"Actually, I do," he said, and he opened a dusty cabinet that contained a dozen old books and a few patches. The man said that they had been taken off of old uniforms. I gave around three dollars for the pieces above.

After the takeover by Kabila, and the renaming of the nation, everything changed. All of the old were destroyed and replaced by the new logo, featuring an okapi head. My patch has become a rare collectible.