Last modified: 2007-04-14 by antónio martins
Keywords: border (multicolor) | canton: union jack | nºi | crocodile (black) | dragon | nº2 | trumpet | megaphone | chick | anvil | cat (black) | chequy 16×9 | chequy (white-blue) | monkey | trees: 2 | tree (purple) |
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This one from the on line version of Adler & Barnard’s book [adb92]. This book (and website) links this Fante flag to the Akan proverb «Bellies mixed, crocodiles mixed, even though we have one stomach we fight over food, because food is for the mouth as much as for the stomach», and add that this is a metaphor arguing for community cooperation. The image on line is sinister-hoisted, and there is no indication about the other side. Unfortunately this is often in asafo flag depictions, which hides away valuable vexillological information.
The flag is pink with a very wide golden yellow cross throughout, with a tan fimbriation. On the center of the cross, two black crocodiles (?), seen from above, crossed over each other: facing respectively top and fly, the former holding a small silver fish on its mouth. On the fly-side arm of the cross, a large disc dvided vertically in white and black (white flywards), standing for the Moon. On the bottom arm of the cross "NºI" in red.
Square union jack canton, taking almost all the upper hoist pink panel, with black background (or just very dark blue?) and large St. George cross in dark red. This flag includes the usual wide border made of large squares of contrasting colors on all three free sides, consisting of dark red, white and black squares in this order, from the top hoist.
António Martins, 12 Aug 2005
This dragon is a remarkable formal representation of the proverb:
«He can fly and penetrate the earth, he can go whereever he wants to
go.»
Wings and arrow-pointed tail point at his exceptional capabilities. As a
total figure the Dragon has been turned towards the left; the way in
which wings and legs are related look like two figures, who travel in
the opposite direction than the Dragon. So: a-a watch it!: the Dragon
can travel in any direction!
Jarig Bakker, 06 Jan 2000, quoting
[gru95]
The text from [gru95] fails to mention
the inscription "Nº2" and also the orange human figure holding a
megaphone/trumpet.
António Martins, 03 Jun 2004
At the website of the Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art, Cornell University, Ithaca, US-NY, this flag is shown in detail and labelled as «Asafo flag; Ghana, 20th century; Textile» and dimentions are given: 81×165 cm (donated to the collection by Joan Barist in 1995).
It shows a more or less typical Asafo flag, with an union jack canton, sinister hoisted. The background is mainly red, depicting a large black dragon in profile, with a yellow eagle beak. Above and ahead of it, near the canton, a yellow chick, also facing the hoist, and below the canton a black cat on a yellow leash tied to a white anvil (?).
Wide bordure all around, except for the canton and hoist side, made of a repeated pattern of squares: diagonal white over black, yellow, diagonal black over white, black (this patterns, in other colors, is used in other Asafo flags); this regularity misfits in the corners. UJ fairly well depicted, but with black instead of blue. Whitish fringe all around the three free edges (not depicted above), and a whitish sleeve for handheld “pole”.
António Martins, 25 May 2005
An abstract flag with a Union Jack in the canton. The border contains
narrow Black and White fields, which makes the static patterns moving somehow.
The chessboard is a secret code for a scene in which two opponents play a
startegic boardgame. Like the African Oware-game the Game of Checkers is
a metaphore for war. Images of checkers-players are known in the Asafo
iconography.
The way the Union Jack is made points at the same maker as flags 23-25
and 72.
Jarig Bakker, 06 Jan 2000, quoting
[gru95]
This is a nice one, though the border could be “purtier”: From a collector’s web site, where it is shown along with oher three Asafo flags and no apparent context.
Light pink background with a yellow monkey (or it is a leopard or a caracal?) leaping from upper fly to lower hoist, between two trees. The animal’s body is plain yellow, with hands and feet in a darker shade and ankles, wrists, eye, mouth, ears and vent lined in black. The trees consist of a purple trunk and three thick branches from which emerge 13 multicolored leaves, with black or white nerves.
The border does not cover the canton, as usual, but it exists along the hoist (below the canton). It is made of disparate pieces of stripped cloth, not forming a clear pattern (with is unusal for similar flags): The top consists of a yellow stripe (parallel to the flag edge), then white, then bicolored black (near the hoist) and yellow. The bttom is similarly stripped in light blue and white, with narrow vertical stripes in red, yellow and white, filling the gaps. The vertical edges are bordered with red, white and black.
Square union jack canton, with cross and saltire of almost identical widths, white fimbriation of the horizontal crossbar overlapping the red vertical crossbar.
António Martins, 09 Jun 2005
At the website of The Detroit Institute of Arts, this flag is labelled as «Asafo Flag; 1863; Appliqued and embroidered cloth; ×182.9; Fante; African; Founders Society Purchase, Acquisitions Fund Accession Number 1983.17».
Unlike most Asafo company flags, which are quite garish, this one uses white and ivory elements on a dark blue background. It depicts a fishing scene, with two teams of netters hauling a tide driftnet where a large fish (tuna?), outlined in light blue, was cought. Each team includes four people pulling a rope, the ones at the tails in smaller size and placed above. At the hoist bottom, a small ship is shown; on the top of the flag, two large white doves.
The canton is filled with a squarish union jack fairily well depicted. A border on all free sides, as usual not enclosing the canton, is made of white triangles pointing out side and touching each other.
António Martins, 30 May 2005
Fishes are a metaphore for enemies, which can be defeated without any
trouble. Accordingly flags like this were considered to be extremely insulting,
and showing them often led to bloody battles.
Jarig Bakker, 30 May 2005
This flag is hard to describe, but here goes: a colourful fringed flag
with a Union Jack in the canton. Part of the border is fringed with an
unusual green and white geometrical pattern. There is a large human?
figure below the Union Jack, gesturing? at a gate? with a padlock? Behind the
gate is another figure by a car. Above the gate in a black field are
the words in white capitals "ROAD CLOSE".
David Cohen, 21 Jun 1998
Weighing always implies comparison. When the Sahohen puts a fallen
warrior on a scale, he evokes revenge, for «no head weighs as much like
the one on the scales: the losses on your own side always weigh the
heaviest.»
The whole background of this flag was restored with the same tissue as
the old silk, which had been used until it was worn out.
Jarig Bakker, 04 Jan 2000,
quoting [gru95]
The warrior on the left holds the scales in his left hand; the scales
consist of thin white lines: top a horizontal line, from which depend
two pyramides, left and right, which both and in disks with three
concentric circles. Between the pyramids are small yellow objects. The
bottom foot of the fallen warrior is on top of some yellow objects.
Thanh-Tâm Lê, 04 Jan 2000
This one from the on line version of Adler & Barnard’s book [adb92], who managed to find a link to this flag in the proverb «If all the rain falls and all the stars appear and shine, but the crab does not come out, no lagoon can empty its waters into the sea.»
An excellent asafo flag, colorful yet not garish, halfway between naive and elegant: Green cloth with a large yellow sun on the main area, complete with facial features (strong nose and brows, in black, white-edged black eyes, green oval mouth) and 38 rays, alternating thick and thin, and enclosed between two black semi-circular arches (just like a pair of round backets). On hoist side, below the (fairily well-depicted) union jack canton, a large white six-pointed star with a red crab on it. Border on all three free sides, consisting of alternating black and orange squares: black, diagonally orange and black, orange, diagonally black and orange.
António Martins, 12 Aug 2005
Three gong-gongs as symbol for the state of alarm of the company is
combined on this flag with the image of a Posuban-shrine, from which a
rainbow ascends. This rainbow is a symbol for death, for like the
rainbow folds itself around someone’s neck, so is death the fate which
threatens us all.
The company underlines with this symbol the deadly danger it presents to
its enemies.
Jarig Bakker, 07 Jan 2000, quoting
[gru95]
An interesting one, from a collector’s web site, where is is shown along with oher three Asafo flags and no apparent context.
Fairily typical Asafo company flag, with a very detailed and correct union jack canton and the usual border made of large squares of contrasting colors, this time UJ red (dark) and UJ blue (very dark), plus golden yellow and bright very light blue, with some of the squares diagonally divided. As usual, the border does not cover the canton nor the hoist.
The background is very light grey or some such color — it contrasts against the white parts of the canton (thus it is not white), but is very light and hueless. The central element is symmetrical, featuring two men in profile facing left and right a bottle, placed centrally, in which there is some kind of rack, or some branching ornamentation. These two men, colored black, with proeminent pointy noses and large ears, bald and apparently unclad, hold each a golden yellow yellow disc (a sponge?) above the bottle with one hand, the other on the hip.
Above the human figure on the hoist side and below the canton, two bright light blue “ovals” (not ellipsis, rather two discs joined by parallel tangents), which I presume to be clouds or puddles. White fringe around all the three free edges and canvas sleeve along the hoist.
António Martins, 03 Jun 2005
A big man evades frightened a group of armed women. The scene
illustrates the power of a company by the revelation of force of its
weakest members: the women: «When even our women have been prepared for
war, what are our men capable of?» This theme is not uncommon; it is to
be found equally on flags and Posuban-shrines.
Stylistically this flag is related to those from the workshop of Ekotsi;
there are some differences in the proportioning and the Union Jack has
been depicted differently.
Jarig Bakker, 04 Jan 2000, quoting
[gru95]
Anything below this line was not added by the editor of this page.
