Agyindawuru Meaning: The Adinkra Symbol of the Gong
AURYN Editorial
Agyindawuru, also written Agyin Dawuru, is an Adinkra symbol of a gong. Modern references read it as a symbol of faithfulness, alertness and dutifulness. Its name has two explanations, one recorded almost a century ago and one popular today.
"The agyin tree's gong"
In his 1927 record of Asante Adinkra stamps, the anthropologist R. S. Rattray translated the name as "the agyin tree's gong". He noted that the juice of a tree called agyin was sometimes squeezed onto a gong, and was said to make its sound pleasing to the spirits.
"Agyin's gong"
Popular Adinkra references today tell a different story: that the symbol commemorates Agyin, a faithful servant and gong-beater of the Asantehene, the Asante king. That explanation is the source of the symbol's modern associations with loyalty and dutiful service.
Two readings, one symbol
Both explanations centre on the gong, the instrument that summoned people and carried messages in Akan society. The older record points to ritual and sound; the modern one to the person who played it. Knowing both is part of knowing the symbol.
Agyindawuru in jewellery
An Agyindawuru design is a sign of faithfulness and readiness to serve, carried by the sound of the gong.
