Warfare is not something that takes place only in the battlefield. For the asafo companies of western Ghana, competition among groups took as much an aesthetic as a military form. These military companies use flags to represent, in vivid and graphic ways, the values and ethos of the group.

The lion’s power is often illustrated by his ability to overcome and dominate smaller animals ‒ sometimes even the leopard. In this flag, the lion controls the entrance to a circular space where two smaller felines seem to be trapped.