Fanti Asafo Flags: The Ghanaian Art Tradition Built Without a Single Mask
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Nearly every tradition documented in this book channels its art through a mask worn in performance. The Fanti, an Akan people living along Ghana’s Gulf of Guinea coast and adjacent inland areas, are one of the few peoples generally thought to not possess a masquerading tradition at all. Their art went somewhere else instead: into the flags, drums, and regalia of Asafo, the military companies that once turned matters of color and insignia into matters of war. That absence, an entire people’s visual culture built without the mask that anchors almost every other entry in this book, is the throughline worth carrying through this piece. It sits next to a second point of contrast: the Fanti do have their own version of the akua’ba fertility doll, and it is explicitly not the same object as the one carried by their northern neighbors, the Ashanti.
A People Without Masks
The Fanti are an Akan group whose distinctive arts belong to their military companies, known as Asafo. Each state and most large communities maintained several Asafo companies, and each company owned certain exclusive colors, motifs, musical instruments, and other insignia. Violation of those prerogatives by a rival company was considered an act of aggression, serious enough that disputes over art and symbol erupted into real warfare in the past. Fanti military organizations also absorbed and adapted European ideas, motifs, objects, and technologies into their own artistic culture, layering imported imagery over a framework of company rivalry that was entirely their own.
Asafo: Art as Military Rivalry
Painted figures and elaborately worked drums, invariably depicted as female, were produced for Asafo companies and their ceremonies. Large, elaborate drums played during Fanti festivities included a lead drum sometimes called the Queen Mother, characterized by carved legs and breasts and covered in motifs recounting local proverbs. Every company’s insignia, from its chosen colors down to its instruments, functioned as a claim to status and identity that rival companies were required to respect, and the flags and drums that carried these claims did the visual work that a mask does in most other traditions in this book.
The Fanti Acua’ba, and How It Differs From the Ashanti’s
The Fanti use akua’ba dolls, but these differ from those of the Ashanti, their northern neighbors. Because Fanti society is matrilineal, the akua’ba here are female. They serve as fertility figurines kept in shrines or worn by women either to induce conception or, during pregnancy, to help assure the birth of a beautiful child, preferably a daughter. The doll is fed, carried, and bathed as if it were a living infant; if the woman has a successful delivery, the figure is returned to the shrine as a form of offering, and if the child dies, the akua’ba is kept instead as a memorial. Fanti dolls usually appear without arms or legs and are most often shaped with rectangular or elongated heads, a silhouette distinct enough to set them apart from Ashanti akua’ba at a glance.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do the Fanti have a masquerading tradition?
No. The Fanti are one of the peoples generally thought to not possess a masquerading tradition at all; their major visual art forms are Asafo military flags and regalia, along with akua’ba fertility dolls.
What is Asafo?
Asafo refers to the military companies of Fanti states and communities, each of which owned exclusive colors, motifs, musical instruments, and other insignia, with violations of those claims by rival companies once considered an act of aggression.
How does the Fanti akua’ba differ from the Ashanti version?
Because Fanti society is matrilineal, the Fanti akua’ba is always female, typically armless and legless with a rectangular or elongated head, and is used as a fertility figure carried or kept in shrines, distinct in form from the Ashanti akua’ba produced by their northern neighbors.
What is the Queen Mother drum?
The Queen Mother is a lead drum used in Fanti festivities, characterized by carved legs and breasts and covered in motifs recounting local proverbs.
See also: Ashanti Gold Mask: History, Symbolism, and Royal Significance in Ghana · African Masks by Region and Tribe
