You’re probably familiar with the West African symbology known as Adinkra. I won’t go into the details of where they come from and why they’re used. What I am going to do is make available these symbols to artists who may want to use them in their designs.  I’ll be putting up collections of 15 or 20 along with their names and meanings as I have time. This is the first installment in .jpg format. To get them onto your machine just drag the image to your hard drive if you’re on a Mac. If you are on a PC I believe a right click will allow you to save.

Part 2 of the Adinkra symbols can be found here

[Show as slideshow]

ABAN (A fortress): STRENGTH OF AUTHORITY

ADINKRAHENE (Chief adinkra):
GREATNESS & LEADERSHIP

AGYINADAWURU (The gong of Agyin): FAITHFULNESS & ALERTNESS

AKOBEN (war horn):VIGILANCE & WARINESS, A CALL TO ARMS

AKOFENA (Ceremonial swords): STATE AUTHORITY, LEGITIMACY

AKOKO NAN (Hens feet): PROTECTIVENESS and PARENTAL DISCIPLINE

AKOMA (The Heart): LOVE, PATIENCE & FAITHFULNESS

AKOMA NTOASO (The joined or united hearts): TOGETHERNESS & UNITY

ANANSE NTONTAN (The spider's web) WISDOM, CRAFTINESS, CREATIVITY and COMPLEXITIES of LIFE

ANI BRE A ENSO GYA: PATIENCE & SELF-DISCIPLINE

ASASE YE DURU (The earth is heavy): PROVIDENCE & DIVINITY

AYA (fern): ENDURANCE and RESOURCEFULLNESS

BESE SAKA (sack of cola nuts): AFFLUENCE, POWER, TOGETHERNESS and UNITY

BI NKA BI (No one should bite the other): PEACE and HARMONY

BOA ME NA ME MMOA WO (Help me and let me help you):
COOPERATION and INTERDEPENDANCE

DAMEDAME (the checkerboard game): CRAFTINESS, INTELLEGENCE and STRATEGY

Related posts:

1. Adinkra Symbols, Pt 1