ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Sociol.
Sec. Race and Ethnicity
Volume 10 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fsoc.2025.1642863
Sociological and Religious Interpretations of Adinkra Symbols: Qualitative Analysis of the 2025 Inaugural Outfit of Ghana's President
Provisionally accepted
- 1University of Education, Winneba, Winneba, Ghana
- 2Takoradi Technical University, Takoradi, Ghana
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Adinkra symbols, deeply embedded in Ghanaian culture, serve as potent non-verbal communicative tools that convey philosophical, religious, and sociopolitical meanings. This study explores the sociological, religious, and fashion interpretations of the Adinkra symbols incorporated into the 2025 inaugural outfit of Ghana's President. Anchored in a qualitative research design and aligned with a constructivist research philosophical position, the study draws on insights from 28 purposively selected participants, including traditional leaders, fashion designers, museum curators, and cultural preservatists. The findings reveal that "Sankofa", "Gye Nyame", "Nyame Dua", and "Dwennimmen", key symbols present in the attire, collectively signify governance introspection, divine authority, ethical leadership, and humility in power. Through the lens of Symbolic Interactionism and the Semiotic Theory of Fashion, the study demonstrates how these symbols serve as ideological markers, reinforcing national identity, political philosophy, and ethical governance. The results highlight the critical role of indigenous symbolism in shaping public perceptions of leadership, fostering national unity, and maintaining cultural continuity in Ghana's political landscape. The study calls for the integration of traditional symbols into governance, education, and leadership training to strengthen national identity and ethical governance.
Keywords: Adinkra symbols, political symbolism, Ghanaian Culture, inaugural attire, Symbolic Interactionism, Semiotic theory
Received: 15 Jun 2025; Accepted: 18 Aug 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 BORDOH, Mensah, Acquah, Bruce-Amartey Jnr and Nunoo. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: ANTHONY BORDOH, University of Education, Winneba, Winneba, Ghana
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