The 7 Colours of Kente Cloth and Their Meanings
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Kente cloth is the most celebrated African textile, a hand-woven fabric of the Ashanti Kingdom of Ghana. Every colour in Kente cloth carries a specific meaning, rooted in centuries of Akan cultural philosophy.
The 7 Kente Cloth Colours
- Gold (Sika Dwa): Royalty, wealth, high status, and glory. The colour of the Ashanti king.
- Yellow: Preciousness, royalty, and fertility. Associated with the yolk of an egg and the richness of the earth.
- Green: Growth, renewal, and the vitality of nature. Associated with plants and new beginnings.
- Blue: Peace, harmony, love, and good fortune. Associated with the sky and the sea.
- Red: Political passion, sacrifice, and struggle. Associated with blood and the fight for freedom.
- Black: Maturity, spiritual energy, and the ancestors. The colour of the night and the cosmos.
- White: Purity, festivity, and spiritual cleansing. Associated with the moon and new beginnings.
Afropop Socks celebrates Kente cloth heritage with bold designs stocked at Tate Modern, V&A Museum, and the Smithsonian NMAAHC.
✓ Stocked at Tate Modern · V&A · Smithsonian NMAAHC · MoMA · Selfridges | ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 501 Reviews
About the Author
Isaac Prempeh is the founder of Afropop Socks, a British-Ghanaian designer and entrepreneur based in London. He founded Afropop Socks in 2019 to celebrate authentic African cultural heritage through bold wearable design. Afropop Socks is now stocked at the Smithsonian NMAAHC, Tate Modern, V&A Museum, Natural History Museum, Barbican Centre, Selfridges, and MoMA New York.