Hwendo: Dahomey applique banners and royal flags

When the king of Dahomey left his palace, the world knew before they saw him. The drums announced his intention. The horns announced his approach. And the banners announced his identity.

These banners were called hwendo in the Fon language. They were large rectangular panels of appliqué cloth, suspended from poles and carried in procession. Each one depicted the emblem of a king, the symbol of a military regiment, or a scene from the kingdom's history. They fluttered above crowds, above battlefields, above the royal court. They were not decoration. They were statements of power, woven in coloured fabric.

Most articles about Dahomey art focus on the palace bas-reliefs or the appliqué tapestries sold in markets. The hwendo banners deserve their own attention. They served a different purpose, moved through different spaces, and spoke a slightly different visual language. This article traces their story.

What hwendo are

Hwendo are not the same as the decorative appliqué panels you buy in the Abomey market. A market panel is made to be hung on a wall. A hwendo was made to be carried. The difference matters.

A processional hwendo is larger, typically one and a half to two metres tall and slightly wider than it is tall. It is sewn onto a backing cloth of heavy indigo cotton, with figures cut from bright imported cloth and stitched by hand. The banner is attached to a wooden pole by a sleeve along its top edge, and the pole is carried by a designated bearer.

The figures on a hwendo follow the same visual vocabulary as the palace bas-reliefs: the royal emblems of the kings, battle scenes, proverbs rendered in symbolic form. But the hwendo vocabulary is more martial. Battle scenes are more prominent. Weapons appear more often. Warriors in combat formation are a recurring motif.

This makes sense. The hwendo were carried into war.

Hwendo on the battlefield

European accounts of the Dahomey wars describe the astonishment of French soldiers at the sight of Dahomean forces advancing under banners. The French were accustomed to West African armies that fought without organised standards. The Dahomey kingdom was different.

Each regiment of the Dahomey army carried its own hwendo. The Mino (the so-called Amazons) had their own banners. The royal guard had theirs. The provincial levies had theirs. In battle, the banners served multiple purposes.

They identified units. In the chaos of close combat, soldiers could see where their regiment was by looking for the banner. They communicated tactics. A banner moving in a certain direction told the unit where to advance. They carried the king's presence onto the battlefield. Even when the king was not physically present, his emblem on a banner reminded every soldier who they fought for.

The French colonial forces, who eventually defeated Dahomey in 1894, collected these banners as war trophies. Several hwendo from the Dahomey wars are now in European museum collections. Some were returned to Benin in recent restitution agreements, though many remain abroad.

Hwendo in royal ceremony

In peacetime, the hwendo appeared at the great royal ceremonies. The Annual Customs of Dahomey, the major state ritual of the kingdom, was the most important occasion. During the Customs, the king reviewed his troops, distributed gifts, honoured ancestors, and displayed the wealth and power of the kingdom. The hwendo were central to this display.

The banners were also carried at the funeral ceremonies of kings, at the installation of a new king, and at the great Vodoun festivals that marked the agricultural calendar. They were not always unfurled. Sometimes they were carried furled, their contents hidden, adding to their mystique.

The bearers of the hwendo held a specific position in the royal court. They were not ordinary soldiers or servants. They were specialists, trained in the handling of the banners, in the choreography of processions, and in the protocols of display.

Symbolism in hwendo

The symbols on hwendo banners follow the same system as the palace bas-reliefs, but the emphasis is different. The most common motifs include:

Leopards and lions. The leopard was the emblem of King Ghezo. The lion was the emblem of King Glele. These predators dominate Dahomey royal iconography. On a hwendo, they are often shown in combat or in a pose of dominance.

Sharks and eggs. King Behanzin's emblem combined the shark (invincibility in water) with the egg (fragility and the paradox of power). The combination was deliberately provocative. It said: I am both unstoppable and willing to risk everything.

European sailing ships. King Agadja adopted the ship as his emblem after conquering Ouidah and gaining access to the Atlantic trade. On a hwendo, the ship represents the kingdom's reach beyond its borders.

Warriors and prisoners. Battle scenes on hwendo show Dahomey soldiers in formation, with prisoners bound at their feet. These scenes communicated the kingdom's military effectiveness and served as historical records of specific campaigns.

Proverb figures. Some hwendo encode Fon proverbs through symbolic figures. A bird that eats its own egg. A fish caught in its own trap. These were messages with political or moral meanings, legible only to those who knew the proverbs.

Where to see hwendo today

The best place to see hwendo in Abomey is the Abomey Historical Museum, housed in the royal palace complex. The museum holds several original banners from the 19th century, including some captured by the French and later repatriated.

The Musée du Quai Branly in Paris holds a significant collection of Dahomey war trophies, including hwendo banners. The British Museum also holds several pieces. Digital images of many of these are available online through museum catalogues.

In Abomey, contemporary artisans continue to produce hwendo-style banners for ceremonial use. The traditional appliqué workshops near the palace complex can produce commissioned pieces for festivals, chieftaincy installations, and religious ceremonies. If you visit Abomey during the Festival of the Recades (the annual traditional ceremonies), you may see hwendo carried in procession by the current royal court.

Explore more. Read about the appliqué textiles of Abomey to understand the broader tradition, or the bas-reliefs of Abomey to see how the same symbols appear in clay. Plan your trip with the visit Abomey guide.