Apparently in Tanzania, there is a dance in which a giraffe costume of some sort is animated by two men. The giraffe is a symbol of grace.Apart from that, I cannot see that the giraffe has been used widely by any African culture. In modern times, it has become a symbol of the contintent of Africa as a whole and some new agers are using it as a symbol of intuition and flexibility (www.crystal-cure.com/protection-giraffe.html ). The TWIGA foundation says this on its site: The word Twiga is the translation of giraffe in Swahili. The giraffe is a graceful animal whose long neck represents the ability to be visionary while still viewing the past and present. The giraffe teaches us to increase our understanding by viewing life from all angles. The heart of the giraffe is large. In some African traditions, a giraffe symbol is taken to every meeting to assure that the understandings of the heart are addressed as well as the understandings of the head. The giraffe uses strength and flexibility to align the physical, mental and spiritual faculties of all situations. http://www.twigafoundation.org/faqs.htm (but it does not specify in which AFrican traditions the giraffe takes on this meaning).