Asafo! : African flags of the Fante /Peter Adler and Nicholas Barnard ; flags selected by Peter Adler and photographed by Ian Skelton.

"No African textile art is more extraordinary than the flags of the Asafo, the warrior group of the Fante people of Ghana. For centuries before Ghanaian independence in 1957, Europeans had competed here for slaves and gold, bringing with them a mass of heraldry, from royal arms to regimental colors. The wonderful ingenuity with which the Fante combined the interlopers' pageantry with their own traditions resulted in spectacular banners that they continue to use to the present day in festivals and celebrations. The appeal of these flags - patchwork, appliqued and ambroidered - is immediate: each example combines color, design and setting into an inventive and provoking art. Produced by a people with no history of the written word and presented with beguiling simplicity, the flags reveal a panorama of African folklore and beliefs, as well as vivid details of everyday life. The result is a series of dazzling inspirations, not only for thiose interested in African and ethnic cultures but for everyone involved in any way with art, craft and design."--