Dame Dame – Symbolism and Importance
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Dame Dame, meaning ‘chequered’, is an Adinkra symbol used by the Akans of West Africa to represent intelligence, strategy, and ingenuity.
The Dame Dame symbol depicts a checkered design contained witin a circle. It was inspired by a popular Ghanaian board game known as ‘Dame Dame’. This game is also played in various countries around the world including the UK, where it’s known as ‘Draughts’, and in the U.S.A, as ‘Checkers’.
Like chess, it’s a checkered board game involving two players and requires much concentration, intelligence, and strategy. The symbol is used to signify the ingenuity that a player would need in order to play a game of dame dame.
The symbol Dame Dame is also popularly used in various jewelry designs, and it can also be seen printed on clothing. It’s a favorite among many tattoo enthusiasts who wish to express intelligence and personality.
FAQs
The words ‘dame dame’ mean ‘checkered’ in Akan.
What does the symbol represent? Dame dame represents ingenuity, strategy, and concentration.
What Are Adinkra Symbols?
Adinkra are a collection of West African symbols that are known for their symbolism, meaning and decorative features. They have decorative functions, but their primary use is to represent concepts related to traditional wisdom, aspects of life, or the environment.
Adinkra symbols are named after their original creator King Nana Kwadwo Agyemang Adinkra, from the Bono people of Gyaman, now Ghana. There are several types of Adinkra symbols with at least 121 known images, including additional symbols that have been adopted on top of the original ones.
Adinkra symbols are highly popular and used in contexts to represent African culture, such as artwork, decorative items, fashion, jewelry, and media.
