Flag (Drapo)
Fowler Museum of Cultural History
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Many
contemporary flags are made as embodiments of spirits. These flags incorporate
the colors and symbols of the deity they are made for. This particular flag is
showing the emblem called a veve. The Veve is a ritual emblem created on the
ground to evoke the Iwa[(1] In the center of the flag where the
lines intersect indicates the crossroads
where the physical and spiritual worlds intersect and through ritual
congures the spirit. The snakes refer to the Danbala, a deity associated with
water, coolness, and wisdom.[1] These flags were used in voudou rituals to
contact the Iwa
[1] Monica Blackmun Visona, Robin Poynor , and Herbert m. Cole, A History Of Art In Africa, Second Edition, (Upper Saddle River, N.J.: Pearson Education Inc, 2008), 534.
[1] Monica Blackmun Visona, Robin Poynor , and Herbert m. Cole, A History Of Art In Africa, Second Edition, (Upper Saddle River, N.J.: Pearson Education Inc, 2008), 534.