Adinkra symbols
Adinkra are symbols that represent concepts or aphorisms. Adinkra are used extensively in fabrics, logos and pottery. They are incorporated into walls and other architectural features. Fabric adinkra ary woodcut sign writing as well as screen printing. Adinkra symbols appear on some traditional Akan goldweights. The symbols are also carved on stools for domestic and ritual use. Tourism has led to new departures in the use of the symbols in such items as T-shirts and jewellery.
The symbols have a decorative function but also represent objects that encapsulate evocative messages that convey traditional wisdom, aspects of life or the environment. There are many different symbols with distinct meanings, often linked with proverbs. In the words of Kwame Anthony Appiah, they were one of the means for "supporting the transmission of a complex and nuanced body of practice and belief".
History
Adinkra symbols were originally created by the Bono people of Gyaman, an Akan people of Ghana and Ivory Coast. Gyaman King Nana Kwadwo Agyemang Adinkra originally created or designed these symbols and named it after himself 'Adinkra'. The Adinkra symbols were largely used on pottery, stools etc by the people of Bono. Adinkra cloth was worn by the King of Gyaaman, and its usage spread from Bono Gyaman to Asante following its defeat. It is said that the guild designers who designed this cloth for the kings were forced to teach the Asantes the craft. Gyaman king Nana Kwadwo Agyemang Adinkra's first son, Apau, who was said to be well versed in the Adinkra craft, was forced to teach more about Adinkra cloths. Oral accounts have attested to the fact that Adinkra Apau taught the process to a man named Kwaku Dwaku in a town near Kumasi.The patterns were printed using carved calabash stamps and a vegetable-based dye. The cloth features fifteen stamped symbols, including nsroma, dono ntoasuo, and diamonds. It is now in the British Museum.
The next oldest piece of adinkra textile was sent in 1825 from the Elmina Castle to the royal cabinet of curiosities in The Hague, in response to an assignment from Major F. Last, who was appointed temporary Commander of Dutch Gold Coast. He probably had the cloth commissioned for William I of the Netherlands, which would explain why the Coat of arms of the Netherlands is in the centre. The other motifs are typical of the older adinkras. It is now on display in the National Museum of Ethnology in Leiden.
''Adinkra'' cloth
Adinkra cloths were traditionally only worn by royalty and spiritual leaders for funerals and other very special occasions. In the past they were hand printed on undyed, red, dark brown or black hand-woven cotton fabric depending on the occasion and the wearer's role; nowadays they are frequently mass-produced on brighter coloured fabrics.|alt=
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The present centre of traditional production of adinkra cloth is from Ghana, Ntɔnso, 20 km northwest of Kumasi and in Ivory Coast. Dark Adinkra aduro pigment for the stamping is made there, by soaking, pulverizing, and boiling the inner bark and roots of the badie tree in water over a wood fire. Once the dark colour is released, the mixture is strained, and then boiled for several more hours until it thickens. The stamps are carved out of the bottom of a calabash piece. They measure between five and eight centimetres square. They have a handle on the back, and the stamp itself is slightly curved, so that the dye can be put on with a rocking motion.
Sample of symbols listed
Recorded sample of fifty three adinkra symbols and their meanings, 1927
| Number | Symbol Name | Literal Meaning | Further Details | Related Symbols |
| 38 | Gyawu Atiko | the back of Gyawu's head | Gyawu was a sub-chief of Gyaman who at the Adae Kesse ceremony is said to have had his hair shaved in this fashion | |
| 14 | AKOMA NTOSO | the joined hearts | ||
| 30 | Epa | handcuffs | ||
| 66 | Nkyimkyim | the twisted pattern | ||
| 69 | Nsirewa | cowries | ||
| 68 | Nsaa | from a design of this name found on nsa cloths | ||
| 58 | Mpuannum | five tufts | ||
| 27 | Duafe | the wooden comb | - | |
| 23 | DAME-DAME | name of a board game | symbol of intelligence and ingenuity | |
| 18 | Aya | the fern | the word also means 'I am not afraid of you', 'I am independent of you' and the wearer may imply this by wearing it | |
| 1 | Aban | a two-storied house, a castle | this design was formerly worn by the King of Gyaman alone | |
| 63 | Nkotimsefuopua | certain attendants on the Queen Mother who dressed their hair in this fashion. Similar to a swastika. | - | |
| 96 | Sankofa | turn back and fetch it | ||
| 97 | Sankofa | turn back and fetch it | ||
| 49 | Kuntinkantan | bent and spread out | kuntinkantan is used in the sense of 'do not boast, do not be arrogant' | |
| 30 | Epa | handcuffs | ||
| 62 | Nkonsonkonson | links of a chain | ||
| 74 | Nyame dua | an altar to the Sky God | ||
| 8 | Agyindawuru | the agyin tree's gong | the juice of a tree of that name is sometimes squeezed into a gong and is said to make the sound pleasing to the spirits | |
| 98 | Sepow | a knife thrust through the cheeks of a man | the man is about to be executed to prevent his invoking of a curse on the king | |
| 4 | Adinkira 'hene | the Adinkira king | 'chief' of all these Adinkira designs | |
| 34 | Fihankra | the circular house | ||
| 47 | Papani amma yenhu Kramo | The people who do good prevents us knowing who really are Mohammedans | as adherents of Islam are enjoined to do good works in the community, and increasing numbers of non-Muslims are also doing so, we can no longer use that criterion to distinguish those Muslims living amongst us | |
| Non listed | Mmrafo ani ase | the keloids on a Hausa man | ||
| 56 | Musuyidie | something to remove evil | a cloth with this design stamped upon it lay beside the sleeping couch of the King of Gyaman, and every morning when he rose he placed his left foot upon it three times | |
| Non listed | Nyame, biribi wo soro, ma no me ka me nsa | O God, everything which is above, permit my hand to touch it | the pattern was stamped on paper and hung above the lintel of a door in the palace. The King of Gyaman used to touch lintel, then his forehead, then his breast, repeating these words three times | |
| No. 13 | ||||
| Akam | an edible plant, possibly a yam | |||
| 35 | Se die fofoo pe, ne se gyinantwi abo bedie | what the yellow-flowered fofoo plant wants is that the gyinantwi seeds should turn black | A Bono saying. One of the cotton cloth designs bears the same name. The fofoo, the botanical name of which is Bidens pilosa, has a small yellow flower, which, when it drops its petals, turns into a black spiky seed. Said of a jealous person. | |
| 55 | Mmra Krado | the Hausa man's lock | ||
| 28 | Dwenini aben | the ram's horns | ||
| 26 | Dono ntoasuo | the double dono drums | ||
| 71 | Ma te; Masie | I have heard ; I have hidden it | this extols the virtue of being able to keep a confidence | |
| 4 | Adinkira hene | The Adinkra King | ||
| 76 | Nyame nwu na ma wu | May Nyame die before I die | ||
| 41 | Hye wo nhye | He who would burn you be not burned | ||
| 39 | Gye Nyame | 'Except God' or 'Only God' | ||
| 37 | Funtunfunefu Denkyemfunefu | Siamese crocodiles | They share one stomach yet they fight over food | |
| 84 | Ohene niwa | the king's little eyes | To be in the king's favour | |
| 9 | Akoben | the war-horn | ||
| Non listed | Kwatakye atiko | at the back of Kwatakye's head | Kwatakye was a war captain of one of the Gyaman kings; at the Adae Kesse ceremony he is said to have cut his hair after this fashion | |
| 13 | Akoma | a heart, with a cross in the centre | ||
| 85 | Ohen' tuo | the king's gun | ||
| 44 | Kojo Biaden | |||
| Non listed | Obi nka obie | I offend no one without a cause | ||
| 20 | BI NKA BI | no one should bite the other | ||
| 13 | Akoma | the heart | ||
| 70 | Nsoroma | a child of the Sky | referring to the saying: Oba Nyankon soroma te Nyame so na onte ne ho so, 'Like the star, the child of the Supreme Being, I rest with God and do not depend upon myself.' | |
| 70 | Nsoromma | Child of the Heavens | the pattern was on the King of Gyaman's pillow | |
| 50 | copied from Europeans | |||
| 86 | Kodie mmowerewa | the eagle's talons | ||
| 25 | Dono | the dono drum | ||
| 12 | Akoko nan tia 'ba, na nkum 'ba | A hen treads upon chickens but does not kill them |