How are asafo flags made?

How are asafo flags made?

The flag is made from commercially produced trade cloth and damask (for the yellow rectangle that forms the net’s edge). Its appliqué figures were copied from paper patterns; each figure is two sided. The British Union Jack in the upper left indicates that the flag was made before Ghanaian independence in 1957.

How old is the Asafo flag tradition?

four hundred years old
Asafo flags. They’re part of a tradition which is about three or four hundred years old. The Asafo, or ‘The War People’, as it translates, live on the Fante coast, which is the Southern Coast of Ghana and in the sixteenth century, when Europeans began to arrive on the coast, they began to make alliances with the Fante.

What is the symbolism of Asafo flags made by the Fante?

Traditionally used by Fante asafo (civilian militia) companies as visual communication signifying their strength, solidarity, and power over enemies, the flags are animated with images of people, animals, and spirits.

What are asafo companies?

Asafo are traditional warrior groups in Akan culture, based on lineal descent. The word derives from sa, meaning war, and fo, meaning people. The traditional role of the Asafo companies was defence of the state.

What is a Fante flag?

The Asafo flags are regimental flags of the Fante people, an ethnic group that mainly resides in Ghana’s central coastal region. The flags are influenced by a combination of Akan proverbs, visual imagery, and European heraldic tradition.

What is a Posuban?

Unique to Ghana’s central coastal region, posubans – a name deriving from the English word ‘post’ and Fante ‘ban’ (fortification) – are the eye-catching and often elaborately decorated concrete shrines that dot the urban landscape of many Fante settlements, reaching something of a garish zenith in such ancient trading …

Is Posuban ancient?

The Architectural roots of Posuban Ross’ research indicates that the oldest monumental Posuban dates back to 1883 in Abandze and this was followed by the original shrine in Mankessim in 1891. Two story posuban were introduced in 1941 and the first of three story posuban appeared in 1955.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uh2XaqB_pl0