---
title: Laissez-Passer of the People's Republic of the Congo, Stanleyville (1964)
url: https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/stanleyville-laissez-passer-lumumba-1964/
description: The opened travel pass of a rebel administration carries the printed title 'Laissez-Passer', a star-and-shield emblem, and on the facing page a portrait…
section: Collection
---

[Collection](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/)

[![Laissez-Passer of the People's Republic of the Congo, Stanleyville (1964)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/images/stanleyville-laissez-passer-lumumba-1964.jpg)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/images/stanleyville-laissez-passer-lumumba-1964.jpg)

# Laissez-Passer of the People's Republic of the Congo, Stanleyville (1964)

The opened travel pass of a rebel administration carries the printed title 'Laissez-Passer', a star-and-shield emblem, and on the facing page a portrait of Patrice Lumumba captioned 'M. N. C.-Lumumba'. The practical document doubles as a carrier for the murdered leader's face and party initials, lending his legitimacy to the new authority that issues it.

- **Date:** 1964
- **Period:** [Cold War](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/#era=cold-war)
- **Made by:** People's Republic of the Congo (Stanleyville), Comité National de Libération / Lumumbist rebel administration
- **Region:** [Sub-Saharan Africa](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/#region=sub-saharan-africa)
- **Country:** [Peoples Republic of the Congo](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/#country=peoples-republic-of-the-congo)
- **Medium:** [Document](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/#medium=document)
- **Issuer type:** [Movement](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/#actor=movement)
- **Regime:** [Cnl Stanleyville Government](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/#regime=cnl-stanleyville-government)
- **Leader:** [Christophe Gbenye](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/#leader=christophe-gbenye)
- **Audience:** [Domestic public](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/#audience=domestic-public)
- **Purpose:** [Persuade or win support](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/#purpose=persuade-support)
- **Themes:** [War and the military](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/#theme=war-military), [Elections and party politics](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/#theme=elections-party-politics)
- **Event:** [Congo Crisis](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/#event=congo-crisis)
- **Techniques:** [Transfer](https://propagandaarchive.org/techniques/transfer/)
- **Source:** Identified Openly sourced: the speaker is who they say they are
- **Source:** [Wikimedia Commons](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Laissez-Passer_of_the_People%27s_Republic_of_the_Congo-Stanleyville.jpg), retrieved September 29, 2026
- **Rights:** Public domain (1964 document of a defunct government, per Commons; published abroad without US notice) People's Republic of the Congo (Stanleyville), 1964; scan via mbokamosika.com and Wikimedia Commons

## Text on the object

Original (French) · read from the image, not independently checked

```
M. N. C.
Lumumba

LAISSEZ-PASSER

REPUBLIQUE POPULAIRE
DU CONGO
COMITE NATIONAL
DE LA LIBERTE
Stanleyville
```

English translation (machine translation by Claude, not verified by a fluent reader)

```
M. N. C. (Mouvement National Congolais) Lumumba / Laissez-passer (travel pass) / People's Republic of the Congo / National Committee of Freedom / Stanleyville
```

Read from a small 500 px scan; the inner-page text behind the portrait shows through faintly and is not legible. Accents on 'REPUBLIQUE' and 'COMITE' are not visible in the print and are transcribed without them. 'M. N. C.' is read as the initials of the Mouvement National Congolais, Lumumba's party.

[← Đây! Lối giải phóng của bọn Cộng Phỉ (This! The Liberation Way of the Communist Bandits)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/day-loi-giai-phong-cong-phi-1964/) [President Johnson's Gulf of Tonkin 'Midnight Address' →](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/gulf-of-tonkin-address-1964/)

## Using the same techniques

- [Bronze sestertius of Gaius (Caligula), reverse S P Q R P P OB CIVES SERVATOS in an oak wreath](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/sestertius-caligula-ob-cives-servatos-0037/) (0037 · Testimonial, Transfer)
- [Gold coin of Kanishka: King of Kings legend, king at the altar, deity Oesho](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/gold-dinar-kanishka-king-of-kings-0130/) (0130 · Transfer)
- [Gold solidus of Justinian I, reverse VICTORIA AVGGG with Victory holding a Christogram staff](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/solidus-justinian-i-victoria-avggg-0538/) (0538 · Transfer, Glittering generalities)
- [Bayeux Tapestry, scene 23: UBI HAROLD SACRAMENTVM FECIT VVILLELMO DVCI](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/bayeux-tapestry-harold-oath-to-william-1070/) (1070 · Transfer, Card stacking)
- [Frontispiece to Eikon Basilike, The Pourtraicture of His Sacred Majestie in his Solitudes and Sufferings (Hollar, 1649)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/eikon-basilike-frontispiece-hollar-1649/) (1649 · Transfer, Glittering generalities)
- [Consult of the doctors on the grave illness of the Grand Sultan (Consult vande medicijnen inde swaere siekte vanden grooten Sultaen)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/consult-of-the-doctors-sick-sultan-antwerp-1683/) (1683 · Transfer, Bandwagon)
- [The Highlanders Medley, or The Duke Triumphant (A Loyal Song)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/highlanders-medley-duke-triumphant-1746/) (1746 · Name-calling, Transfer)
- [Marche du Dom Quichotte moderne pour la deffence du Moulin des Abus (March of the Modern Don Quixote in Defence of the Mill of Abuses)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/dom-quichotte-moulin-des-abus-1791/) (1791 · Name-calling, Transfer)