The Central African Empire was the name of the Central African Republic when president Jean-Bédel Bokassa declared himself Emperor Bokassa in 1977. Bokassa spent over 20 million dollars, a quarter of the country's annual income, on his coronation ceremony. The name Central African Republic was restored in 1979 when Bokassa was ousted in a French-backed coup.

On 22 April 2003, the Louvre des Antiquaires, a mall of fine art and antiques across the Rue de Rivoli from the Louvre itself, had a temporary exhibit of Bokassa's coronation robes, copied from those Napoleon wore when he crowned himself Emperor of France in 1804.