![Colorful, sequined textile with border of triangles and an abstract shape at center below a pink banner reading “Damballah”](/sites-drupal/default/files/styles/max_scale_640x640/public/field_ers_item_record_image/2022-09/BEL28_r2.png?itok=6SBpR97q)
Damballah vévé flag
Sequins and fabric, ca. 1990
Art and Artifacts Division, Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture
Damballah 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. Damballah, considered one of the most important lwa, is the overseer of wisdom and fertility. He is often associated with St. Patrick in Catholic iconography, and his favorite color is white.
: Art and Artifacts Division, Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture
Not currently on view
The copyright and related rights status of this item has been reviewed by The New York Public Library, but we were unable to make a conclusive determination as to the copyright status of the item. You are free to use this Item in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use.
Items in Belief
View All Items in This Section-
St. Jacques Majeurs vévé flag
Not currently on view
-
Damballah vévé flag
Not currently on view
-
Erzulie vévé flag
Not currently on view
-
Medieval girdle book, or breviarium
Not currently on view
-
Samuel Prout’s print of the Rouen Cathedral
Not currently on view
-
Lucas Cranach’s St. Christopher
Not currently on view