SOME NOTES ON the uniforms and insignia of Zaire

Part 1: The Principal Units

Introduction.

As well as one of the finest national flags ever conceived, Zaire also had an interestingly, handsomely and rather obscurely dressed army. Here I’ll try to say a thing or two about it.

What I’m not covering here. Basically, I’m looking at Zaire proper, from 1971 to 1997, with glances back into the 1960s where the situation requires. These pages don’t cover the “Congo Crisis”, nor the mercenary element of the Congolese army which lasted later into the 1960s. All fascinating subjects, but ones which need their own review entirely.

Limitations with the source material. International media attention ebbed and flowed tremendously. The various difficulties of post-independence Congo were covered profusely, and one can find a decent amount of footage from Zaire until about the mid-1970s. After this, material becomes rather scarce, except for the “highlights” of the Shaba rebellions and the tragic years of 1994-1997, where coverage is better. As a separate issue, I can’t read or speak French, and have no access to any French-language reference libraries. So this page is, very much, just a précis of the convenient English-language sources.

The overall appearance of the army. The army could turn out smartly on parade but, in the field, it looked incoherent even at the best of times. The footage of the Simba Rebellion in Africa Addio and Alan Mingam’s photographs of Shaba I are both excellent studies of the variegated appearance of the army on campaign. Footage of the mid-late 1990s presents an absolutely chaotic picture, with no two men dressed alike. Of course, this makes the business of trying to summarise these uniforms rather difficult. It’s safe to say that any rule I set down here had many exceptions, that all regulations were frequently disregarded, and that more or less anything was worn somewhere, by someone.

The “Revue Des Forces Armees Zairoises”. If anyone has any copies of this, please phone me urgently.

Organisation of the army.

Happily, I don’t need to say much about this, but a few remarks will be helpful.

The army. The organisational history of the army is, essentially, the rise and fall of a succession of “favourite child” units. After the end of the Congo Crisis etc., the amount of paratrooper and commando battalions began to increase, and these were grouped together into the Division des Troupes Aéroportées et de Choc (DITRAC) in 1968. In 1973 or 1974 the purportedly elite Kamanyola Division was formed, with the help of North Korean instructors. The regular infantry, meanwhile, seem to have been somewhat neglected. By the mid-1970s or so, we had 14 infantry battalions, possibly up to 14 paratrooper or commando battalions in the DITRAC, and the nine battalions of the Kamanyola Division.

All these units performed disappointingly in the Shaba rebellions. In the aftermath, the infantry, paratroopers and commandos were each consolidated into a single brigade, of three battalions each — 21st Infantry, 31st Parachute, and 41st Commando. These were each given foreign trainers. The Kamanyola Division maintained its three brigades, none of which can have been at anything like full strength. A 13th Infantry Brigade is also attested — very unclear if this was part of the Kamanyola Division or the infantry establishment. Possibly both, at different times. There’s also the odd mention of an elusive 32nd Parachute here and there.

Parallel to this, Mobutu’s praetorian guard grew in strength, from 100-odd men in 1976, to three battalions c. 1978, to an eight battalion Division Spéciale Présidentielle in 1986. I must assume the division’s strength was paper to some extent, and it’s hard to identify men belonging to it in the footage outside of Mobutu’s immediate entourage.

In the background — armour, support elements, etc. None of these seems to have ever been very significant.

Law enforcement etc. I may not understand this quite correctly. At independence, some battalions of the Force Publique were army, others gendarmerie — the latter used for internal security purposes, etc. The distinction between army and gendarmerie seems to have become wholly academic during the Congo Crisis. The gendarmerie seems to have also been responsible for the military police function of the army, though some units seem to have maintained their own military police provision. It also provided the men for the Republican Guard (see next page). In 1972 the gendarmerie, the police and the Republican Guard were merged to form a new “National Gendarmerie”. Police uniforms seem to disappear from the source material around this time, so I’d guess they were simply folded into the gendarmerie.

“Para-Commandos”. This term, borrowed from Belgian usage, can be found in Zairian contexts. To my best awareness, it was never an official designation for any unit, and the paratroopers and commandos were at all times called paratroopers or commandos (and, per Robinson, they had their own numbering systems).

“Guard”. Both Robinson’s paper and Keegan’s World Armies mention “Guard” battalions, as distinct from the gendarmerie and the Republican Guard (and the Presidential Guard). They aren’t mentioned in any other sources I’m aware of, and I don’t see any uniforms in the material I’d want to attribute to them. Unclear for the moment.

Sources. The Osprey is good on this, as is Colin Robinson’s paper A forgotten decade? Politicking and war for the ANC/FAZ 1967-1977. I rely on both of these in this section and elsewhere. They inevitably don’t agree with each other in every particular.

General remarks on the uniforms.

Camouflage. I hesitate to be too prescriptive here – there were several patterns in use simultaneously and no doubt the supply situation was somewhat irregular. A couple of more specific points. The jigsaw camouflage uniforms seem to have mainly(?) been produced locally, or at least outside Belgium – they can be distinguished from Belgian production by their greener, weaker hues. Jigsaw uniforms seem in the 1990s are often very faded. Leopard-spot camouflage seems to have originated in Congo-Brazzaville, sometime in the early 1970s, and was then copied by Zaire. The original leopard-spot uniforms seem to have been worn solely by senior officers (c. early 1974), and they weren’t issued en masse until the raising of the Kamanyola Division in 1975, so far as I can see. Leopard-spot uniforms are rarely seen in the 1990s. I’m not sure when the woodland uniforms, much seen in the 1990s, were introduced. 1990s footage shows a profusion of miscellaneous styles, many of which I can’t identify. Mobutu himself led the way with a lurid tan-heavy brushstroke ensemble (see fig. 35). I try to note these but no doubt have overlooked many.

Parade dress. For each unit I describe all the parade dress items I’ve seen for that unit. Often not all of them were worn at once – whether this was just carelessness, or there were different orders of dress for different types of parade occasion, I don’t know.

Fob badges. These can be seen not infrequently, but the views are never close enough to comment further. I’ve tried to note these where I see them.

Jump wings. These really need their own study. The typical wings were in silver metal, after the French model but with a leopard head at the root of the parachute cords and a star above. Later, various embroidered styles can be seen on service uniforms. These were all worn above the right breast pocket. A site here shows a few different models.

Red scarves. In the Shaba rebellions (particularly Shaba II) these seem to have been worn as general Zairian “field sign” rather than a unit distinction. Unrelatedly, they were also part of the parade dress of some units, as noted in the appropriate places in the text.

Red paracord belts. These seem to have first appeared as a peculiarity of the commandos, but it seems they became a general tough-guy affectation used by men from other units as well – I’d put this very approximately after the Shabas. In the later 1990s belts made from other colours of cord can be seen.

Berets. These are very regularly seen without badges, even on parades and other formal occasions. The prevalence of badges seems to have decreased as the years went on, particularly after the 1970s.

Undress headgear. The Force Publique undress headgear seems to have been a side cap, with blue/red (army/gendarmerie) piping around a false turn-up, and a blue/red semicircle in the “false peak” position. These were replaced at independence with a khaki beret, for all arms (seemingly, including arms which had a coloured beret) although this seems to have taken many years to become widespread and displace the side caps. A few soldiers are still wearing the side cap as undress caps in the Shaba rebellions, including on some men I take to be paratroopers. The khaki beret seems to have mostly been almost always worn without a badge.

Shoulder slides. These were distinctively coloured, as described in the relevant sections. They were seemingly worn (or, at least, intended to be worn) by all ranks, though one sees groupings where the officers are wearing them but the men aren’t. The branch devices are almost always missing from enlisted men’s slides, and from c. the early 1970s usually from officers’ as well. Where branch devices were worn, it was above rank insignia. Subalterns can be seen, in probably equal amounts, with their bars worn horizontally, in French (etc.) style, or vertically.

Officers’ rank insignia. This was worn on the shoulder slides, as mentioned, or on a single slide centred on the chest, in French style.

Enlisted men’s rank insignia. At independence this was worn centred on the chest, but by the early 1970s it seems to have migrated to the upper sleeve (left or right). In some 1990s material it can be seen worn, with rolled-up sleeves, on the roll-up itself.

Plain fatigues. Plain greenish fatigues were used to a considerable extent by all units (either as full ensembles or mixed with camouflage items) and I don’t note the presence of these specifically. A sickly lightish brownish-green can be seen in the 1990s. Peaked fatigue caps are fairly rare in the 1970s, but by the 1990s are common.

The “Zaire overseas” insignia. A large upper sleeve patch seems to have been the identifying insignia for Zairian troops overseas in the late 1970s and later (dates unclear). A green arc edged yellow with “FORCES ARMEES ZAIROISES” in yellow, above a green shield edged yellow with large central yellow disc with hand and torch emblem (see fig. 71). This seems to have been worn on both sleeves. I’ve seen this worn by a contingent of the Kamanyola Division in Morocco in 1977, and Zairian peacekeepers in Chad in 1982. After this it seems to have vanished,

Officers’ sword knots. These seem to have been plain brown leather.

Markings. There seems to have been a small-scale practice in later years of putting markings above the left breast pocket. I’ve seen an insignia-free leopard-spot tunic with a patch reading “FAZ 86” (the year of manufacture?) and the green fatigue tunic of a military justice captain with “FAZ - DSP” unaccountably stencilled in white. No idea.

Officers’ Service Dress.

I’m going to deal with this all up here, to avoid much repetition.

The original service dress. From about 1960 (I haven’t looked into this specifically). Lightish greyish khaki. The actual shades seen in the source material vary a good deal, but the intended colour seems to have been something darker than colonial tan. The modern French terre de France uniform seems a similar hue. A four-pocket open-collar tunic. Five gold front buttons, the bottom two spaced a little wider to accommodate the belt. The pockets with gold buttons and scalloped flaps, pleats on the breast pockets. Pointed cuffs with three small buttons. Pentagonal collar patches. White shirt and black tie. A gold fourragère with blue piping on the left shoulder. A peaked cap with gold chinstrap and khaki peak, and small yellow star on blue disc cockade on the crown. Straight trousers and black shoes. President Kasavubu wore a white version of this uniform, which I don’t think I’ve seen on anybody else (he also had a white closed-collar uniform I won’t bother with). Sometimes a beret was worn instead of the peaked cap, but it seems that a peaked cap was available for all branches(?). I don’t know if the armoured corps wore their side cap.

The original service dress (insignia). Rank insignia, in Belgian style, was worn on the collar patches. These were in branch colour with a branch device worn above the rank insignia. General staff — black with red piping along the pointed ends, gold winged grenade with thunderbolts emerging from the flame (fig. 3). Infantry — blue with gold crossed rifles (fig. 4) Gendarmerie — red with gold grenade (fig. 5). Commandos — green with upwards-pointing dagger (figs. 6-7). I haven’t seen any other branches. Red for the paratroopers and dark blue or black for the armour would be sensible guesses. Field grades had a gold bar either side of the cap badge, generals two bars either side. Colonels had red cap bands — generals’ were red or crimson (unclear). Cap badges: general staff — the same winged grenade etc. Infantry and gendarmerie — leopard head below a star, within a wreath, overall oval shape. Commandos — SAS-style wings and dagger. Other branches unclear. Gold twisted cord shoulder straps on black backing, with trefoil endings for generals. Black belts with gold circular buckle with lion head(?) device. Officers had two gold stripes on the belt and the loops. Sometimes the belts are simple open buckle belts in the same material as the tunic. Some officers (all generals?) can be seen with a blue right pocket fob badge of unclear detail/significance.

Later developments. In about March-April 1965(? — unclear) plain khaki shoulder straps, with rank insignia, were introduced. The gold cord straps can still be seen throughout the rest of the 1960s, but restricted to certain “full dress” type occasions.

In about August 1966 (unclear) rank was taken off the collar patches, leaving the branch insignia only. Generals’ patches were now crimson with (?)black piping along the pointed ends, the badge now a leopard head above a fist grabbing a bow, with crossed spears behind. Infantry patches seem to have adopted a new style of crossed rifles, at a steeper angle. Gendarmes’ grenades seem to have become larger. The old badges can still be seen here and there. As before, the occasional unidentifiable item can be seen. Mobutu’s aides-de camp (typically, one sees three, from each of the army, navy and air force) wore an elongated French-style gold aiguillette off the right shoulder, and no fourragère. The first time I’ve seen a gendarmerie officer with grenade cap badge is 1970, but these could’ve appeared much earlier. The paratroopers seem to have switched to plain red collar patches with no device in mid-1971, presumably in connection with the abandonment of the SAS-type beret badge around that time.

At (?)the same time, generals adopted some new accessories. A cap with khaki crown and crimson band, gold chinstrap, black peak. Gold foliate embroidery on the band (projecting in straight lines from the cap band, not curving around the edge of the peak — see fig. 19 below), and an entirely new badge — a leopard head above crossed spears, above “PAIX / JUSTICE / TRAVAIL” in a three-section scroll, above outlined “ground”, with a laurel branch on the left and an elephant tusk on the left (fig. 18, for Zaire). All in gold except the tusk which was silver. The small cockade on the cap crown seems to have gained a yellow and red outline (unclear). Gold foliage on the peak. Two black rings (widely spaced) around the cuffs, and two black trouser stripes. A gold circular belt buckle with star in the centre, the belts themselves with two gold stripes and gold embroidery similar to that on the cap band.

By around mid-1968 non-general officers adopted the cuff rings and stripes. The exact details of this elude me — it seems to have been two narrower, narrowly spaced rings, or one thick ring narrowly spaced below one thin ring (both can be seen) for field officers, one ring for subalterns, and one trouser stripe for both. But I see e.g. the lieutenant-colonel pictured at fig. 15, with a single cuff ring, when I think he should have had two.

From around mid-1971, non-general officers in Mobutu’s entourage can be seen with the generals’ style of cap badge and black peaks. Unclear how widespread this change was.

A new cap cockade with the Zairian arm and torch outlined in green, outlined in gold, first appeared in late 1971 (fig. 18) and continued down to 1997.

The generals’ style cap badge, on green, seems to have been introduced around mid-late 1972 for all officers, along with black cap peaks (red bands for colonels and peak foliage, curving around the peak in the conventional manner, for field officers (fig. 18)).

At some point in ?the early 1970s senior officers started wearing red name badges(?) with gold borders, above the right pocket, below any jump wings etc (fig. 20).

Transition to the abacost service dress. Footage dated 3 May 1974 shows Mobutu’s aides-de-camp in the uniform I’ve described above. By 27 May they’re wearing the same tunics, but with cravat instead of collar and tie. This transitional situation lasted into early 1975 – the latest date I’ve seen this uniform is 20 February, and the earliest date I’ve seen the “true” abacost uniform is 12 April. 

The abacost service dress. A four-pocket, five-button tunic, worn with an open collar (the top button unfastened). Three small buttons on each cuff. At the neck, a cravat in the applicable colour — I think light Zaire flag green for all “land forces” units, though red can occasionally be seen in later footage (a Presidential Guard distinction?) No changes to the peaked cap. Straight trousers and black shoes. Paratrooper and commando officers seem to have worn their berets instead of the field cap fairly commonly. One man can be seen in 1978 with short sleeves (fig. 24) — presumably an individual modification.

The colours are hard to follow. At the time of introduction, the uniform seems to have been a greenish khaki, except for generals and staff officers, where it was usually a very dark green (but sometimes also the greenish khaki). Mobutu was pictured in 1987 wearing the greenish khaki shade, with general staff collar patches. In the 1990s, a medium green shade is often seen. I can’t discern the underlying system here.

The abacost service dress (insignia). As previously. No cuff rings or belts. Collar patches with branch badge only. These are rather hard to make out. As far as I can tell: general staff — the same badge as earlier, in gold, on a crimson patch sometimes piped gold on all sides. Commandos — an upwards-pointing dagger, in gold, on black (fig. 23). A new insignia I haven’t previously seen is an upwards-pointing sword above a scroll reading “OYO EKOYA EYA”, above and flanking all this a stylised tree or bird or something(?), on black (fig. 27). See here. Presumably a commando insignia of some sort. Yet another commando insignia seems to have been a sword/leopard/scroll device —see figs. 105 and 106 below— on green. The fourragère now a green twisted double cord, flanked by two gold single cords (the latter with red or green piping — I’ve seen both). This seems to have been worn by all ranks up to and including generals. Mobutu’s aides-de camp still wore their gold aiguillettes and no fourragère.

Shirtsleeve service dress. In the pre-abacost era, officers can often be seen in a khaki shirtsleeve uniform, the shirt either long-sleeved, with closed collar and khaki necktie; or short-sleeved with open collar. Branch-coloured shoulder slides with rank and (sometimes) branch insignia were worn, with the service dress peaked cap, or occasionally the khaki beret. Camouflage can often be seen as service dress, with peaked cap, in the abacost era, or green fatigues. Generals seem to have preferred leopard-spot in the 1970s.

Officers’ Full Dress.

This was a relatively late addition to the repertoire — first appearing, so far as I can see, in mid-1977. The same cap as for the service dress, but with a black crown. In the 1980s the chinstrap seems to have become thicker. A black mid-thigh-length tunic with standing collar. Nine gold front buttons, three on each cuff. A simple rear vent with two gold buttons on either side. Collar patches and upper edge piping in branch colour, branch insignia (same as for the service dress) embroidered on the collar patches in gold. Stiff shoulder straps, black, with gold edging, button and rank insignia. Two broad gold cuff rings for generals and field officers, two narrower rings for subalterns (I’m not wholly sure about the rings situation). Trouser stripes the same as the cuff rings, I think? Officers wore the usual fourragère, at least sometimes, Mobutu alone wore a large gold fourragère.

Having promoted himself to field-marshal, Mobutu added a gold edged and embroidered collar, cuffs and belt, a green cap band, and two layers of gold foliage following the peak (unclear). Each cuff had seven gold stars in a circle on the sleeve above it. Some details of this uniform seem to have changed by the 1990s.

Generals and General Staff.

This overlaps significantly with the above sections. In fatigues or camouflage, generals and general staff wore their rank on crimson shoulder slides below the branch insignia (often missing). Headgear was the peaked service cap or a coloured beret, presumably of the unit of origin. In Shaba I, Mobutu wore an M1 liner with the three stars of his rank on the front.

The Presidential Guard.

A tricky unit. According to the Osprey, it began as “the president’s personal entourage”, but in 1976 “100 commando-trained officers were attached”. And, indeed, in photos and footage of Shabas I and II we see Mobutu escorted around the zone of operations by men wearing various styles of uniforms and camouflage, but plain fatigues with fatigue caps or green berets are predominant. I see the “normal” commando badge (i.e. fig. 100) on the green berets, and the “normal” paratrooper badge on the one or two guys with red berets. A distinctive item not seen elsewhere by me is an olive drab field cap with the same commando badge worn centred (fig, 37). Many, but not all, of these men wear a small enamelled badge with Mobutu’s face and a flaming torch, which I take to be the Guard’s distinctive insignia (as does this website). This badge doesn’t seen to have been a strictly military insignia and can also be seen worn by civilians clearly not of the Guard – I imagine it was an indication of loyalty to the régime more generally. Red paracord belts are widespread. The commando sleeve shield and semicircular commando breast badge are also commonly seen (but not together on any one man?). These men usually carry M-16s or Uzis. In footage of Shaba II, a few seem to be North African (Moroccan?) or European.

“In about 1978” (still with the Osprey) the Guard was expanded to brigade strength, gaining a paratrooper battalion and the Republican Guard, which had hitherto been part of the gendarmerie. In 1986 it was enlarged again, to a division of seven or eight battalions (I don’t know what these were designated as — paratroopers or commandos or what have you).

After this expansion, the original close-security unit seems to have continued to wear green berets with various camouflage — woodland, jigsaw, etc. One man in 1996 seems to wear for his beret badge a green shield with arm and torch in centre (fig, 43), which feels like a reasonable insignia for this unit. Most seem to have had no badge at all, in line with general trends at this time. The commando badge makes occasional appearances. The Osprey colour plates have a Guard NCO with green beret with silver Israeli jump wings as its badge — I haven’t seen this in the material but it’s entirely plausible. By 1991 a green shield-shaped fob badge (right pocket) may have replaced the old flag and Mobutu badge.

The other battalions are oddly elusive in the footage. A low-quality photo seen in Congolese Facebook groups etc. (I can find no date or attribution, but I’d put it in the late 1980s or later — fig. 45) has Mobutu reviewing men in brushstroke camouflage with red scarves, red badge-less berets and red fourragères, with what seem to be yellow shoulder slides. I think these men are good candidates for the Guard parachute battalion — I haven’t seen the red/yellow combination elsewhere. Beyond this, I have very little idea, and any of the men pictured below in the 1990s I’ve placed with the commandos or paratroopers might have actually been Presidential Guard. A few men can be seen in the late 1990s with a uniform like figs. 46 and 47 — red beret (circular gold badge) and red shoulder slides with white short edges. The context suggests they might be a military police section of the Guard, or something(?). If not, some sort of elite gendarmerie unit. Red shoulder slides alone can be seen elsewhere (fig. 49B).

An odd unit, seen in a strange nocturnal scene a day or two before Mobutu’s overthrow, had some men in the typical mix of fatigues and camouflage, but others in “chocolate chip” desert camouflage with brownish field caps. Several military and civilian vehicles in crude green-tan-brown camouflage, with a red shield insignia. The central device is unclear. Mobutu Jr (who wore a black beret with US jump wings) seems to have been in command, so I put these guys in the Guard section. Chadian mercenaries, perhaps?

What the Guard did, at any point, for their service uniforms, I don’t know. The men of the close-security unit may have simply continued to wear the service dress of the units they were drawn from.

A M113 APC appears in 1997 footage in olive-green with “DSP” crudely painted on the left side in white (fig. 49).

The Infantry.

This branch seems to have been at the back of the queue for camouflage, and throughout the 1960s and later are mostly seen in plain fatigues. The field uniform for the mercenary rebellions was plain fatigues and the khaki beret, with a few officers in lizard. By the time of Shaba II the infantry (at least, the units in theatre) seem to have mostly received lizard uniforms and leopard-spot caps (see the Kamanyola Division section below) or lizard “Bigeard caps”. The beret was khaki, except the handful of specialists seen with black berets (below). An army band seen in Shaba I has some rather unofficial-looking blue berets (fig. 58). Possibly by the 1980s some infantry officers had blue berets of more conventional appearance, though they could be air force or navy officers instead (see next page). Very unclear. The standard white accessories, etc, for parade — gloves, gauntlets, waistbelts, crossbelts. I haven’t seen any white fourragères but no doubt they existed. A tiny Congolese national flag can be seen on the left side of M1 helmet liners as parade dress in the later 1960s (fig. 52).

I hesitate to say much about the infantry in the 1980s and 1990s — the difficulty in distinguishing this “default” branch of the army, without any special uniform items, from badly-equipped paratroopers, commandos etc. will be evident. Camouflage of all kinds, fatigues, etc.

Blue shoulder slides with crossed rifles badge. The beret badge was originally a leopard head below a star, inside an oval-shaped wreath (see fig. 59). Sometimes it had a blue backing — I don’t know if there was any system to this. Zairian official heraldry didn’t have any use for the Congolese star, but this badge seems to have remained in use so far as I can tell, until the general falling-away of badges after the 1970s. Infantry units seen in 1968 (fig. 56) and 1979 (fig. 55) had upper sleeve insignia, of unclear designs. This doesn’t seem to have been widespread.

FALs were the standard armament by the later 1960s, and afterwards Some use of Vignerons also in the 1960s-early 1970s. M-16s can be seen in both Shabas, and AKs of some model in Shaba II. AKs etc afterwards.

An infantry anti-aircraft gun unit can be seen in 1970 with black berets, with gold infantry badge, and blue shoulder slides. Plain fatigues.

The Kamanyola Division.

This was the first unit, excepting some individual senior officers, to wear leopard-spot camouflage. A few men in Shaba had plain fatigues, but leopard-spot was strongly predominant. For enlisted men the hats were in “Robin Hood” style, while officers had slouch hats with the right side of the brim turned up. After 1985 it seems the enlisted men were given slouch hats also. I think I see some men with unbadged khaki berets in Shaba I. Yellow shoulder slides with some sort of gold crossed somethings badge (at a less steep angle than the infantry rifles), though almost always there’s no badge at all. Circular torch-in-disc hat badge (green border around the yellow disc). By 1985 there was some sort of elongated shield-shaped brassard worn off the right shoulder strap, of entirely unclear design. AKs of some model in the mid-late 1970s. Men of this unit can be seen in Shaba I with M-16s, the magazines carried in US-style cloth bandoliers, typically worn straight around the waist, and a miscellany of belt equipment. A contingent from this unit paraded with SKS type rifles in 1985, and another in 1997 had M-16s. The photographs of the FAZ taken by Alan Mingam in Shaba I are fantastic studies, mostly of this unit – I use very little of them here for copyright reasons.

On parade, enlisted men wore white gloves and gauntlets, a white waistbelt with white cross-strap, white gaiters, and a white fourragère on the right or left shoulder (I’ve seen both options, in different scenes). Officers wore the same white gloves, gauntlets and gaiters, with brown leather waistbelt and crossbelt, supporting a sword, and seem to have also worn a red tassel fixed to the right shoulder. By 1985 we see red scarves as well. Hats were worn, or M1 helmets with a white stripe, interrupted at the front with a badge of some sort.

I see two colours: the national flag with a gold fringe, and the same, with gold text below, reading I think “2EME GROUPEMENT…”. The finial is unrecognisable.

A female contingent wore leopard-spot Robin Hood hats, jackets and skirts, black ankle-high boots with tall socks. Yellow shoulder slides and red cravats.

The 13th Infantry Brigade.

I don’t know if these men wore blue infantry distinctions or yellow Kamanyola distinctions.

The Paratroopers.

Red berets and red shoulder slides — the colour was, properly, a classic paratrooper maroon, but a true red is often seen in the material. Occasional khaki berets and even the older red-piped side caps in Shaba II. Shoulder slides can be seen with white short edges very rarely. Jigsaw camouflage throughout the 1970s, though I see a few men in lizard in Shaba II, I think. After the 1970s, a mix to whatever exact degrees of jigsaw, lizard and (later) woodland. Parading in 1985, the 31st Paratrooper Brigade seems to have entirely worn lizard. A fascinating reminiscence here suggests that lizard had more “old sweat” credibility than jigsaw among paratroopers in the late 1980s. Lizard and woodland in the 1990s. M1 or WWII British-style helmets in the 1970s, down to Shaba II — unclear what came after. Footage of a paratrooper unit in 1972 shows US-style webbing, with packs of WWII British style, and FN FALs, some with folding stocks. The FAL magazines were carried in boxy pouches of unclear manufacture. Brown jump boots are often seen, though far from exclusively. Some M-16s seen in Shaba II, and they seem to have become standard by 1985. Paratroopers on the Rwandan border in the mid-1990s carried M-16s and reasonably heavy sets of webbing.

In the later 1960s the insignia was a Belgian-style “WHO DARES WINS” wings and dagger combination, worn on berets and shoulder slides (figs. 85 and 86). In 1969, a unit identified explicitly as the “3rd Para-Commando Battalion” used jump wings as beret badge. By the early 1970s (August 1972 is the earliest I’ve seen), right through to 1997, the badge was, in gold: a leopard head in front of a sword, curving wings either side, with all this above a scroll reading “TOKOWA MPO YA EKOLO” flanked by smaller wings (fig. 83). See items 4 and 5 here. I haven’t seen a matching shoulder slide insignia, as far as I’m aware. Occasionally jump wings were used as the beret badge, as noted, and possibly there was a transitional period in mid-1971 or so, between the two beret badges, where wings were worn faute de mieux. Some men can be seen with the “commando” sleeve shield (see the commandos section below) on their right sleeves — whether this was particular to certain units, or particular men within units, I don’t know. The shiny new 31st Paratrooper Brigade of the post-Shaba II army seems to have worn the same beret badge and had a shield-shaped brassard worn off the left shoulder strap — details as pictured (fig, 87). They seem to have had French-style coloured company(?) identification cloths on the right shoulder. I’ve seen an officer with an unclear blue fob badge.

Red tassels and white accessories for parade dress, officers with swords — see the description above for the Kamanyola division. I haven’t seen any white fourragères. The 31st Paratrooper Brigade wore red scarves on parade, officers with swords and brown leather sword belts. I haven’t seen them with any of the white accoutrements.

The flag of the DITRAC as seen — “FORCES ARMEES ZAIROISES / DIVISION DES TROUPES AEROPORTEES ET DE CHOC” (no accent marks). A spearpoint finial. First presented perhaps in August 1972.

The Lady Paratroopers.

This unit was a staple of régime propaganda in the 1970s, but did nothing militarily so far as I’m aware.

Jigsaw camouflage, darkish maroon side caps in rather “Chetnik” style, with paratrooper badges. Brown paratrooper style boots, Uzis. I’ve seen crimson and black edged white shoulder slides, presumably indicating different functions within the unit (military police (based on the badge) and normal, perhaps).

The Commandos.

I’m starting this section in about 1970 or so. The earlier history of the commandos is so heavily bound up with the history of the white mercenaries (both uniformologically and more generally) that I don’t think I could give even a vaguely accurate account of it here without also talking about the white mercenaries — which I don’t want to do, because, while a fascinating topic, it’s also a separate one entirely.

Green berets and green shoulder slides. Lizard camouflage or brushstroke in the later 1960s, lizard or jigsaw in the 1970s. I’d imagine they also used leopard-spot in the 1970s, and I’ve seen a couple of isolated commandos dressed thus, but never a group of any size. However, I’ve seen a commando band in leopard-spot, with the bandsmen in green berets. A commando contingent in Chad in 1983 wore lizard, with a mix of green berets and Lizard “Bigeard caps”, with AKs and chest rigs. In a 1985 parade the 41st Commando Brigade seems to entirely wear lizard. By 1997, woodland and jigsaw, and probably much else. Paracord belts can be seen as early as 1970, but don’t seem to have been prevalent until Shaba I. These were generally red. Webbing belts etc. for everyone else. Red scarves also much seen in Shaba I. Armament somewhat unclear to me — I’ve seen FALs (earlier), M-16s (these perhaps standard in 1985), AKs (1980s and 1990s) and Vektors (1990s).

Insignia is very elusive in the earlier 1970s. By Shaba I, and for the rest of Zaire, the most common beret badge I’ve seen is: in gold, a sword with a small leopard head at the tip, flanked by wings, above a scroll reading “OYO EKOYA EYA” (fig. 100). See item 2 here — I’m not sure about the identification the site author has given it. Elsewhere, I can see green berets with the FAZ paratrooper badge (1977 and 1997) (fig. 102) and the old mercenary era SAS-style paratrooper badge (1980 and 1997) (fig. 100). I can’t make any attempts to match any insignia to particular units. In a 1985 parade the 41st Commando Brigade seems to have no badges at all, even the officers. In late material the occasional man can be seen with an improvised beret badge — typically what seems to be the breast jump wings, though one man seems to have a Soviet air force peaked cap crown badge(???) (fig. 108), and another what seems to be an Israeli paratrooper badge (fig. 100).

The shoulder slide badge, rarely seen, seems to have been an upwards-pointing dagger or sword, a leopard head at the tip, with a scroll below(?) (fig. 105). 1990s photos show a green beret man who seems to have this same device, but embroidered (in gold with red scroll) (fig. 106), and another with a simple gold dagger (fig. 107). I don’t know if this was just a vagary of the supply situation, or the insignia of several distinct units, or what.

There was also, of course, the “Commando” shield, worn on the right sleeve. I’ve first seen this in 1972, and it can be seen all the way through to 1997. A green shoulder arc, outlined in black, with “COMMANDO” in red. Below and joined to the arc, a green downwards triangle, outlined in black. Inside this, a gold star, above a silver upwards-pointing dagger, above a leopard head, red downwards-pointing thunderbolts on either side. Gold branches on either side of the triangle, outside it. The quality of these varied enormously —some are embroidered, others seem to be painted— and one can find differences in detail between items. This shield can be found worn by commandos, but also many paratroopers, and sundry men from other units. Outside of the commando units, its appearance is sporadic enough that I wonder if it wasn’t, perhaps, an indication that some commando training course had been completed (like an equivalent of the jump wings) rather than a unit insignia, but this is purely a guess. It can be seen occasionally on service uniforms, as well as field ones.

By 1985, a shield-shaped brassard, worn from the right shoulder (fig. 109). Presumably this was the specific insignia of the new 41st Commando Brigade. It seems to have been along the lines of “Commando” shield, possibly with the arc extending further than the shield, black, text and outline in white (per a few examples seen on militaria forums).

Circa the Shabas a green semicircular badge over the left breast pockets (a black semicircular border, inside which a star above a leopard head, with branches on either side) seems to have had some currency, particularly among the Presidential Guard (fig. 40).

The commandos seem not to have had any white parade dress accoutrements, though by the 1980s red scarves seem to have been worn, at least by some units. In 1985 a band can be seen with red scarves and tassels, white belts. The men parading next to them are simply in camouflage.

The Gendarmerie and Military Police.

At independence, some battalions of the Force Publique were army, others gendarmerie, the latter used for internal security purposes, etc. The distinction between army and gendarmerie seems to have become wholly academic during the conflicts of the Congo Crisis. The gendarmerie seems to have also been responsible for the military police function of the army. It also provided the men for the Republican Guard (see above). In 1972 the gendarmerie, the police and the republican guard were merged to form a new “National Gendarmerie”. This doesn’t seem to have caused any changes to the uniforms, as far as I’m aware.

Plain fatigues until the 1990s, when miscellaneous camouflage items begin to appear. Black berets and red shoulder slides (white trim on the short edges very occasionally). Green fatigue trousers with red trouser stripes can be seen in the 1990s — both in Kinshasa and the Great Lakes, so they may have been general issue. A white fourragère on the left shoulder most commonly — or the right, or missing entirely. When serving as military police, a red “P M” brassard on the right arm. White waistbelts and sometimes cross-straps. For parade, any combination of the standard white accoutrements and red tassels. From the late 1970s red scarves begin to appear also. More or less any weapons — Mauser carbines and FN-49s in the 1960s, later FALs, M-16s, Uzis, SKSs, etc. A unit on the Rwandan border in the mid-1990s had fatigues in the unpleasant yellow-green colour, with Tavors.

I’ve seen several different types of helmet. The standard design through to the end of the 1970s, or thereabouts, seems to have been a green M1 liner, with red stripe, interrupted at the front with a white tombstone shape with a red bursting grenade in the centre (fig. 119). Parade dress (though, often seen in other contexts) in the 1960s was a green(?) M1liner with white stripe, interrupted at the front with a white bursting grenade (fig. 120). Around mid-1972 this became a white stripe interrupted at the front with a badge, as seen (fig. 122). These badges seem to have been hand-painted and no doubt varied greatly in their shape and details. The colour(s) of the oval between the spears may have been a unit identification of sorts — I’ve seen yellow and red-over-yellow, and no doubt there were many others. I’ve also seen all-white helmets in the 1960s (fig. 121). Officers in the 1970s can be seen wearing the black beret when their men are wearing the red stripe helmet. By 1985, the helmet (both parade and service) seems to have evolved again, with the parade helmet now a white M1 liner with red stripe, interrupted at each side with a three-digit number (this seems to have been the wearer’s individual “collar number”) and what seems to be the army badge in yellow, on a red hexagon (fig. 124). In the later 1990s, Kabila’s guard can be seen wearing some sort of eastern bloc helmet with a red stripe, interrupted at the front with the army badge in yellow on a red shield (fig. 125) Perhaps this is the service equivalent of the white helmet just described — I’ve never seen it worn by Zairian forces, I don’t think. Motorcyclists had white crash helmets with a stripe in green-yellow-red-yellow-green (fig. 126).

In the 1960s, the system of shoulder slide badges seems to have been a gold bursting grenade on a white disc, when the white stripe helmet was worn (fig. 127), and a grenade without the disc in other circumstances (fig. 128), though I’ve seen the white disc used in “red stripe” situations. At any rate shoulder badges seem to have mostly disappeared by the 1970s. The new helmet badge of the 1970s seems to have been accompanied by a shoulder slide badge of similar design, though I lack a clear view of it (fig. 133?). The original beret badge was a grenade on presumably a red backing, which by the 1970s evolved into something illegible to me (rarely seen — with or without red backing) (fig. 129). Infantry badges can also be seen fairly commonly to about the early 1970s. In later footage (earliest I’ve seen is 1980) some men have US-style policeman badges — ones who had to interact with the public, perhaps. Footage from c. the mid-1990s shows a group of gendarmes with a large green/yellow shield insignia on the right sleeve, and an officer with some sort of fob badge (fig. 130). One man seen in 1968 has a sleeve badge seemingly identical to the infantry badge at fig. 56 and some sort of non-standard beret badge (fig. 131).

Above is a colour seen in 1971 (some of it, anyway).

In 1985 we see a women gendarmerie unit, as pictured.

Armour.

The armoured branch started out as the Armoured Car Battalion in 1969 (Robinson) or 1972 (Osprey), and underwent subsequent mutations, eventually ending up as a (paper) Division Blindée. I’m given to understand that its actual combat effectiveness was minimal at the best of times, and it’s rarely met with in the source material.

The uniform seen in the 1970s is hard to make out. Dark greyish blue fatigues with either, in the same colour, a British-style side cap, with yellow piping, a gold badge (usually missing) with buffalo-and-scroll design (below); or a curious field cap with neck flap and yellow band, worn with a central badge — presumably the same (fig. 137). Yellow scarves and ?black shoulder slides edged yellow, with a gold buffalo-and-scroll badge. An officer in Mobutu’s entourage in the late 1970s, seemingly of this branch, wears leopard-spot camouflage with a side cap with badge (fig. 139). Vehicle crewmen in Shaba II can be seen in plain fatigues with fatigue caps.

The branch makes a remarkable reappearance in 1996, doing dismounted crowd-control duty on the Rwandan border, without a vehicle in sight. The uniform as seen — a cool jacket with zip pockets, French-style side cap piped in yellow, yellow scarves, company(?)-colour shoulder flashes (I see yellow and red), black shoulder slides (fig. 138). AKs of some model. I’ve seen an “Armoured Division” sleeve patch, which I’d date not before 1980 probably, but only in a modern photograph.

The armoured corps insignia, in the 1970s, was a buffalo above a chevron or scroll — the finer details escape me (fig. 140). This was possibly also the form of shoulder slide badge (very unclear). It appeared on their Panhards in yellow on a dark blue or black square, as seen. T-55s in 1976 had some small indistinct white circular emblem on the turret (fig, 143), though in c. 1979 and 1985 they seem to have been insignia-less.

The [?École] d’Instruction des Troupes Blindées, seen c. 1979, wore green fatigues with dark greyish blue British caps piped yellow (no insignia) and yellow(?) shoulder slides. White gloves, gauntlets, waistbelts, crossbelts and fourragères (right shoulder) on parade. Their flag as seen (fig. 144).

The vehicles themselves: in November 1974 we see Panhard AMLs and Panhard M3 VTTs, both in olive-green. Ditto in Shaba II — one with a name “SERPENT DE […]” painted on the turret (fig. 143A). T-55s (unclear to me when these first appeared), were in the same colour.

Continued in Part 2!

Image credits (Parts 1 and 2)

Everything here is from the Reuters archive (via the British Pathé online archive) unless noted.

[1], [6] AGIP/Bridgeman Images. Used with permission.

[3], [4], [36], [42], [62], [100], [102], [106], [107], [121], [125] , [133] Getty Images.

[19], [25] to [27], [35], [43], [47] to [51], [69], [87], [89], [99], [101], [103], [108], [109], [116] to [118], [138], [143A], [156], [186] Associated Press.

[44], [46], [80] to [82], [88], [98], [104], [147] to [150] Institut National de l'Audiovisuel.

[45] I don’t know. Seen on Congolese nostalgia Facebook groups and elsewhere, always without attribution.

[64] RTBF.

[79], [97], [111], [124], [135] OZRT.

[85], [120], [127] A documentary on Youtube titled “Il était une Fois Mobutu” with no credits.

[105], [144] Issue 1 of the “Revue Des Forces Armees Zairoises”, as photographed on Twitter by “House of Kongo”.

[114], [122] “Victoria TV” on Youtube. Almost certainly not the original source.

[119], [130] From the documentary “Mobutu, Roi du Zaire”. I don’t know where it in turn got its footage from.

[123] RTBF.