Royal Kente Patterns

Royal Kente Patterns

Patterns and meaning associated with the Kente Cloth

The Asante Kente is a richly coloured, intricately patterned indigenous hand woven fabric that is typically produced at Bonwire and Adanwomase in Ashanti Region, Ghana. Kente is woven in long narrow strips with brightly coloured silk or cotton yarns on Nsadua Kofi, the traditional narrow loom, which is a box-like wooden structure in which the weaver sits to weave. The strips are sewn together lengthways to purposely create definite patterns in the constructed cloth. Asante Kente motifs and cloth designs have names with philosophical meanings and colour symbolism that serve as a medium of communication to the indigenes. The cloth designs consist of dots, lines, shapes, textures and colours that are carefully crafted to form geometric shapes and intricate patterns that exhibit balance, rhythm, variety, proportion and repetition. Unlike Asante Kente cloth designs that evolve on the loom, weaving in the higher education textiles curriculum requires expression of the structure of design concepts as drafts on point paper.

Each pattern in a kente cloth has its own name. 
Hundreds of variations are possible for each element of a kente cloth for the stripes formed by the warp threads, for the designs created with the weft threads, and for the colors used throughout. But Asante weavers rarely invent variations on their own. Instead, they choose from the wide range of designs established by tradition. Kente cloth had its beginnings in weaving traditions dating back to the 11th century. In the late 1500s, as the Asante empire became powerful and wealthy, traders brought colorful silk fabrics from Italy, India, and North Africa to the region. By the early 1700s, the Asante had begun the practice of unraveling imported fabrics and reweaving the silk threads into splendid fabrics for the royal court and regional chiefs. Kente cloth has been known for its dramatic colors and intricate patterns ever since. An Asante weaver might know hundreds of patterns by heart, each having its own name. Warp patterns, which are stripes of color, have names taken from proverbs, important chiefs or queen mothers, or historical events. Weft designs are usually named for plants, animals, or objects that the pattern resembles. A finished cloth usually has the same name as the warp pattern.

SYMBOLIC MEANING OF COLORS

• YELLOW in all its variations is associated with the yoke of the egg, ripe and edible fruits and vegetables and also with the mineral gold. In some spiritual purification rituals mashed yarn is rendered yellow with oil palm and served with eggs. It symbolizes sanctity, preciousness, royalty, wealth, spirituality, vitality and fertility.

• PINK is associated with the female essence of life. It is viewed as red rendered mild and gentle, and therefore associated with tenderness, calmness, pleasantness, and sweetness. According to Akan social thought, these attributes are generally considered as essential aspects of the female essence.
• RED is associated with blood, sacrificial rites and the shedding of blood. Red-eyed mood means a sense of seriousness, readiness for a serious spiritual or political encounter. Red is therefore used as a symbol of heightened spiritual and political mood, sacrifice and struggle.
• BLUE is associated with the blue sky, the abode of the Supreme Creator. it is therefore used in a variety of ways to symbolize spiritual sanctity, good fortune, peacefulness, harmony and love related ideas.
• GREEN is associated with vegetation, planting, harvesting and herbal medicine. Tender green leaves are usually used to sprinkle water during purification rituals. It symbolizes growth, vitality, fertility, prosperity, fruitfulness, abundant health and spiritual rejuvenation.
• PURPLE is viewed in the same way as maroon. It is considered as earth associated with color used in rituals and healing purposes. It is also associated color used in rituals and healing purposes. It is also associated with feminine aspects of life. Purple cloths are mostly worn by females.
• MAROON has a close resemblance to red-brown which is associated with the color of Mother Earth. Red-brown is usually obtained from clay and is therefore associated with healing and the power to repel malevolent spirits.
• WHITE derives its symbolism from the white part of the egg and from white clay used in spiritual purification, healing, sanctification rites and festive occasions. In some situations it symbolizes contact with ancestral spirits, deities and other unknown spiritual entities such as ghosts. it is used in combination with black, green or yellow to express notion, spirituality, vitality and balance.
• GREY derives its symbolism from ash. Ash is used for healing and spiritual cleansing rituals to re-create spiritual balance when spiritual blemish has occurred. It is also used in rituals for protection against malevolent spirits. Grey is therefore associated with spiritual blemish but also with spiritual cleansing.
• SILVER is associated with the moon which represents the female essence of life. Silver ornaments are usually worn by women and are used in the context of spiritual purification, naming ceremonies, marriage ceremonies and other community festivals. It symbolizes serenity, purity and joy.
• GOLD derives its significance from the commercial value and social prestige associated with the precious mineral. Gold dust and gold nuggets were used as medium of exchange and for making valuable royal ornaments. It symbolizes royalty, wealth, elegance, high status, supreme quality, glory and spiritual purity.
• BLACK derives its significance from the notion that new things get darker as they mature; and physical aging comes with spiritual maturity. The Akans blacken most of their ritual objects to increase their spiritual potency. Black symbolizes an intensified spiritual energy, communion with the ancestral spirits, antiquity, spiritual maturity and spiritual potency.

Asante Kente Weavers

Bonwire and Adanwomase in Ashanti Region

ResearchGate - Structural Patterns in Asante Kente

19th Century (origin), digitally documented in 2014

Department of Industrial Art, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Ghana
Department of Art Education, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Ghana

Copyright © 2014 by ResearchGate. Used with permission for educational purposes.

Asante Kente textile weaving practices and Ghanaian cultural heritage.

Digital image, textual documentation

English & Akan (Twi)

Physical Object; Cultural Artifact; Textile

KenteLoom-NsaduaKofi-2025 https://www.researchgate.net/publication/279298672_Structural_Patterns_in_Asante_Kente_An_Indigenous_Instructional_Resource_for_Design_Education_in_Textiles#pf4

Ashanti Region, Ghana; Historical period from the 18th century to present-day use in Kente.
Currently worn by native Ghanaians for prestigious functions like:
Traditional wedding
Naming ceremonies
Official Appoinments...

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/279298672_Structural_Patterns_in_Asante_Kente_An_Indigenous_Instructional_Resource_for_Design_Education_in_Textiles#pf4