Bese Saka
Bese Saka, a bunch of kola nuts, is the adinkra symbol of affluence, abundance and unity.
Meaning
Bese Saka is an Akan symbol from Ghana, stamped on adinkra cloth. J. E. T. Kuwornu-Adjaottor, George Appiah and Melvin Nartey of KNUST translate it as “a bunch of kola-nut” and give its meaning as prosperity, affluence and authority over other people and nations. The kola trade, they write, brought wealth to the Asante kingdom in particular, and the bunch stands for unity, because separate pods, each with its seeds, have been brought together. The design-tools table at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute calls it a “Sack of cola nuts” and gives “Affluence, abundance, unity”.
Read next
- Next in Adinkra symbolsDuafe (wooden comb)Duafe, the wooden comb, is the adinkra symbol of beauty and cleanliness.
- The same shape in Andean and Inca symbolsNazca monkeyA monkey drawn on the desert floor of southern Peru, about 110 metres long, with its tail wound into a spiral. It is one of the large animal figures of the Nazca lines, made by the Nazca culture about 2,000 years ago.
See also
Funtunfunefu Denkyemfunefu (Siamese crocodiles), Gye Nyame, Nyame Dua, Nsoromma (star), Osram ne Nsoromma (moon and star), Sankofa.
Sources
- The philosophy behind some Adinkra symbols (Kuwornu-Adjaottor et al. 2016), J. E. T. Kuwornu-Adjaottor, George Appiah and Melvin Nartey (Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology), “The philosophy behind some Adinkra symbols and their communicative values in Akan”, Philosophical Papers and Review 7, no. 3 (2016): 22–33, doi:10.5897/PPR2015.0117, Academic Journals, Some familiar Adinkra symbols: Bese saka
- Adinkra Symbols (Culturally Situated Design Tools), Culturally Situated Design Tools (Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, with the National Science Foundation), “Adinkra: Symbols”, Culturally Situated Design Tools, table of symbols
The same shape elsewhere
Browse symbols formed from circles or curves and waves.
Researched, edited and approved by Rory Hansen before publishing. Last reviewed October 9, 2026. How we research
Added .