Adinkra - a world in symbols

Adinkra are symbols developed and used by the Akan and Gyaman people of West Africa to represent and encapsulate concepts and maxims. You can hardly turn around in Accra without coming face to face with Adinkra, so much so you may not realise what you are looking at. The most frequently spotted is perhaps the symbol below-

Gye nyame, meaning “except for what God allows to happen" or “except God” can be seen everywhere from business logos to decoration and fashion.Traditional Adinkra cloth was originally associated with funerals but is now used for a wider range of special occasions. The authentic Adinkra cloth is hand made – using stamps carved from sections of calabash and the dye (made from badie bark specially brewed), the symbols are stamped onto the cotton cloth.The village of Ntonso near Kumase is the centre of this kind of traditional production. Modern use now sees the symbols also produced by screen printing which unlike the traditional cloths can be washed.

The meaning of Adinkra symbols also cover a wide range with now over 500 symbols denoting objects from daily life, abstract ideas , people, animals, proverbs, popular sayings and more. There are about seventy to eighty popular symbols often referred to as the core symbols including -

NKONSONKONSON

 the "chain link"

 a symbol of unity often in reference to human relationships

DENKYEM

the "crocodile"

a symbol of adaptability referring to amphibian nature

and, of course!
AKOMA

the "heart"

a symbol of patience and tolerance.

Look out for these and many more symbols all over Ghana and the West Coast of Africa, you are sure to choose a few as favourites. 

Learn more :

An article on the origins and use http://angelasancartier.net/adinkra-cloth

A list of symbols and meanings  http://www.adinkra.org/htmls/list.htm (pictures above are from this site)