President Mobutu at a parade of the "Corps des Volontaires de la République," Kinshasa, Congo (Democratic Republic)

"In Zaire (now Democratic Republic of Congo), President Mobutu regularly appeared in public wearing a leopard-skin cap as part of his presidential regalia. While the form of the hat derives from a military cap, his choice of leopard skin was certainly calculated to exploit the symbolic association of the leopard with chiefly legitimacy and power that has a long history in many societies in this region." [Arnoldi M.J., 1995: Introduction: The Head and Hair; Crowning Achievements. UCLA Fowler Museum of Cultural History]. This photograph was taken when Eliot Elisofon was on assignment for American Broadcasting Company and traveled to Africa from early December 1966 to early February 1967.