Last modified: 2005-07-30 by antonio martins
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They are essentially tribal flags/ military colors
from colonial times to the present. The Union
Jack in canton is borrowed from their then colonial masters, the
British.
James Ferrigan, 10 Aug 1998
The best way to characterize these flags is in my oppinion
“occasional vexillology”, meaning that flags were made
and used for every occasion.
As such there is not much difference with the flag-use in the
Netherlands and Belgium. What is different is that flagmaking in Ghana
is closely related to youth-companies and also with uses in the past,
which may not survive long. I have
understood that there are hundreds of them around, and a lot are lost
for ever by wear and tear.
Jarig Bakker, 04 Jan 2000 and 31 Dec 1999
Even though the Akan societies, had no standing army, the asafo — i.e., a people’s militia — was a well established social and political organization based on martial principles. Every able-bodied person belonged to an asafo group; every child automatically belonged to his or her father’s company. Internal sub-divisions within an individual company included the main fighting body, the scouts, reserves, and the minstrel unit whose main job it was to sing patriotic and war songs to boost the morale of the military.
The asafo companies forming the national army were organized into main fighting divisions thus: adonten (va