A large NHS sign installed in London Zoo’s Giraffe House during the pandemic has been acquired by the Museum of London as part of its ongoing Collecting COVID initiative.

The sign was made by London Zoo, and deliberately positioned on the Giraffe House to be in the direct line of sight of paramedics who were parking outside the locked-down zoo next to the Giraffe House during their lunch breaks.

The sign became widely known through an ITV documentary and by local residents stopping to have photos taken with it and the giraffes during the lockdowns.

Kathryn England, Chief Operating Officer for ZSL London Zoo said that the sign “became something of an emblem for London’s resilience to the pandemic and meant that even when closed, the zoo was able to bring a smile to people’s faces.”

The sign was finally removed from the Giraffe House prior to London Zoo’s second reopening in April 2021 and officially donated by Kathryn England, Chief Operating Officer ZSL London Zoo to the Museum of London.

The London Zoo sign will be considered for potential display in the Museum of London’s future new home in West Smithfield in the coming years.