St. Jacques Majeurs vévé flag

Elaborately decorated with sequins and beadwork, vévé flags are sacred objects used to capture the essence of the lwa, or spirits, and are unfolded to indicate the beginning of a ceremony. Catholic rituals and iconography were incorporated into West African religious practices to conceal the Yoruba religion and were disseminated by enslaved Africans who were forced to convert to Catholicism. Here, Saint Jacques Majeurs represents the Vodou deity Ogoun—the spirit of power, protection, and the military, who is associated with the color red—depicted as a mounted, sword-wielding warrior. In both West African Yoruba and Haitian traditional belief systems, Ogoun oversees the realm of metal (iron) and machinery.