Asafo Company Flag (Frankaa)

early to mid-20th century

Asafo is a Fante military institution, made up of local companies, each with its own name, number, regalia, shrine and set of flags, and imagery. This Asafo flag most likely dates from before Ghanaian independence in 1957 (note the British Union Jack in the upper-left canton) and served as an emblem of pride. The image in the field, of a creature looming over a decapitated corpse, suggests a severe warning to hostile parties. Fante arts, from a coastal area subject to more than five hundred years of direct interaction with European traders, bear witness to a long history of the creative borrowing of European forms. The three-headed monster here was probably inspired by the mythical creatures of European heraldry.