African patterns are more than just aesthetically pleasing designs; they are imbued with rich history, cultural significance, and deep symbolism. These patterns, often appearing in black and white, tell stories of tradition, identity, and the human experience. From textiles to flags, each design carries a unique message, reflecting the diverse cultures across the African continent.
Showcasing the diverse cultures of Africa along with the rich and vibrant color palate, influential fashion designers all over the globe have embraced the colors, patterns, cultural dress and tribal motifs of Africa. More than simply a fashion statement, traditional African textiles such as Kuba cloth and Mudcloth have an incredibly rich history of a great and ingenious people. While they may look fantastic for today’s modern fashions, the prints can be a symbol of status, hierarchy, and allegiance to tribal roots.
Let's delve into the meaning and cultural importance of some prominent African black and white patterns.
Adinkra Symbols
Adinkra are visual symbols that represent concepts, proverbs, and aphorisms. They originated from the Akans of Ghana in the 1700s or before. Back then, they featured as prints on cloth which royals wore to important ceremonies. Saturated with meaning, Adinkra have come to represent the richness of Akan culture in particular and African culture in general. They serve as a concise way to convey deep truths in visual form. In fact, many of the symbols have their own associated Akan proverbs.
Due to their appealing attributes, Adinkra symbols are often used in logos and emblems to promote ideas and causes. Adinkra also means ‘goodbye’ or ‘farewell’ in Twi the language of the Akan ethnic group of which Asante is a part. It has therefore been the tradition of the Akan especially the Asante to wear cloths decorated with Adinkra symbols on important occasions especially at funerals of family relations and friends. This is to signify their sorrow and to bid farewell to the deceased. Today, the Adinkra cloth is not exclusively worn by the Asante people.
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Here are a few examples of Adinkra symbols and their meanings:
- Gye Nyame: Except God. A symbol expressing the omnipotence and supremacy of God.
- Sankofa: Go back and get it! A symbol for the wisdom of learning from the past to build for the future. While Gye Nyame may be the most popular Adinkra symbol in Ghana, Sankofa is the most popular one beyond the shores of Ghana, serving as a symbol of deep spiritual significance for many African Americans and other Africans in the diaspora who want to connect with their roots.
- Sankofa (alternative representation): This stylized heart with spirals is an alternative representation of the Sankofa symbol.
- Mpatam: Pacification knot.
Sankofa has two main representations: a bird and a stylized heart. The current one is the famous Sankofa bird, a mythical bird with its head turned backwards, holding an egg in its beak, while it appears to move forward. This depicts the importance of drawing lessons from the past to guide the present and the future.
Kuba Textiles
Kuba textiles have been woven since the 16th Century by the Kuba of Kongo, today’s DRC (Democratic Republic of Congo). The process includes the collection and preparation of the raffia fibers for weaving and embroidery, weaving the basic cloth unit, dyeing the embroidery fibers, and embellishing the woven cloth with embroidery, applique, patchwork and dye. The weavers use a coarse filament stripped from the fronds of the raffia palm tree. Raffia trees are extensively grown in the DRC.
These weavings were reserved for court rituals and ceremonial occasions. European and other western artists such as Matisse have been collecting and imitated the Kuba design since the 16th Century.
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Kuba cloth from Congo - watch it being made. Learn the history
Bamana Mud Cloth (Bogolanfini)
Bamana mud cloth, or bogolanfini, is a handmade Malian cotton fabric traditionally dyed with fermented mud. It is a type of cloth that women hand-paint with mud that is rich in iron, and that they leave stored in a pot for more than a year before using. The cloth traditionally used in bogolanfini productionis woven by men on a narrow strip loom. To begin, they dip the cloth in a solution of water boiled together with the pounded leaf of a type of tree (cengura) to give it an overall yellow color.
Using a wooden stick or iron tool, the female artist then paints the mud onto the areas of the cloth that will become the negative space of the resulting design. Traditionally, and still today, Bamana women would wear bogolanfini during important periods of transition, including marriage, birth, excision, and death. Male hunters would wear it as markers of their group identity. It has an important place in traditional Malian culture and has, more recently, become a symbol of Malian cultural identity.
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Other Notable African Textiles and Patterns
- Aso Oke: A hand-loomed cloth woven by the Yoruba people of southwest Nigeria, meaning "top cloth."
- Kente Cloth: Vibrant and woven into long panels, Kente cloth is the classic and quintessential African style. The panels are sewn together and appropriate for both men and women’s clothing. The cloth is usually brightly colored with motifs representing religious or political commentary.
- Asafo Flags: Locally called "frankaa", these flags are paraded on festive occasions by men's "military" companies among the Fante people of coastal Ghana. The imagery asserts the wealth and power of the company and challenges its rivals, often through an associated proverb.
- Bark Cloth: The sacred fabric of the Baganda people in southern Uganda, harvested from the inner bark of a Mutaba tree.
- Adire: An indigo-dyed cloth produced by the Yoruba women of southwestern Nigeria, using a variety of resist dye techniques.
The history of African textiles is intertwined with the history of trade, colonization, and cultural exchange. The development of the African print fabric has been referred to as the “result of a long historical process of imitation and mimicry”. How exactly Dutch wax prints became popular in West Africa is debated. What is known for certain is that Dutch wax prints started out as cheap mass-produced imitations of Indonesian batik locally produced in Java.
By 1880, Dutch and Scottish traders began introducing the fabrics to the ports in West Africa and here, they found success. Research suggests that this success might have in part, been due to the fashion taste of the “Black Dutchmen” - a group of West African Dutch soldiers called Belanda Hitam in Indonesia who served between 1831 and 1872 in the Dutch colonising army of Indonesia and later retired to Elmina, modern-day Ghana.
Some of the fabrics were given different names based on their patterns and those names still hold till today. Two popular ones are Kri-Kri star (tiny stars) and Mkpuru Oka (corn seeds). This uniformity in dressing has also become a cultural staple amongst many tribes in Nigeria and West Africa. In many Yoruba weddings, burial ceremonies, birthday celebrations and so on, Asoebi - which is usually an Ankara print fabric, is worn to commemorate and show unity at these events.
Color Symbolism in African Patterns
Color variations hold incredible meaning depending on the tribes and sub-groups of the culture. The following is a list of some of the main colors found in African patterns along with the meaning they hold.
- White: Like in many cultures, white symbolizes spirituality and purity.
- Green: Although not used as often as gold, green also represents prosperity.
- Blue: The most harmonious of all colors, blue represents love and peace.
- Black: The most significant and incorporated color of Kente, represents spiritual strength and maturity.
- Red: Represents the bloodshed from Angola’s liberation struggle.
- Yellow: Represents the wealth of the country.
Fabrics from Southern Africa
Whilst true traditional wear from southern Africa is historically animal skin based, the arrival of European and Asian influences dating back to the 16th century has led to most cultures adopting various textiles as cultural wear.
| Country | Fabric Name | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Angola | Samakaka (or Samacaca) | Bold and colourful fabric with black, red, and white colors, representing the African continent, bloodshed from Angola’s liberation struggle, and the wealth of the country. The geometric shapes are rooted in traditional symbols. |
| Botswana | Leteise (or Letoitse) | Dyed cotton fabric with intricate geometric patterns, most commonly indigo but available in various colors and prints. It is worn by both men and women, especially at traditional gatherings like weddings. |
| eSwatini | Lihiya | A traditional top fabric worn by married women, tied in an L shape below the left shoulder. It is worn with Sidvwaba (a goat skin skirt). |
| Lesotho | Seanamarena | A distinctive blanket adopted in the 19th century as a modernization of the traditional animal skin cape. It features various styles and motifs, including the maize cob, symbolizing fertility and wealth. |
| Malawi and Zambia | Chitenje (or Chitenge) | A widely recognized African fabric, originally from Indonesia, worn mostly by women wrapped around the chest or waist, as a headscarf, or as a baby sling. It features a variety of colors, patterns, and political slogans. |
| Mozambique | Capulana | Fabrics that have been worn since the establishment of the Arab/Indian trade routes. They were initially received from Indian traders as a means of barter for other goods. Early Capulana designs typically included imagery of leopards and lions. |
| Namibia | Ohorokova | Traditional Herero dress, a bold, A-lined, floor-length dress with colourful, vibrant patterns worn with several petticoats underneath, creating a wide, structured dress. The dress is topped off with a beautiful cow horn shaped headdress, called Otjikaiva. |
| South Africa | Umbhaco | Traditional Xhosa outfit featuring a long skirt adorned with beads, incebetha (a long panel worn over the chest), and iqhiya (a distinctive headdress). Men wear a skirt and an adorned blanket called ingcawa. |
| Zimbabwe | Jira reRetso | Traditional cloth of the Shona people, often linked to spirituality and ancestors. It is typically red with a distinct black and white geometric pattern and is associated with the spirit of the hunter. |
