History

Around present Abomey there existed from 1625 the kingdom of Dahomey.  At about the same time the French Compagnie de Indes settled in Ouïdah. The trade post was not succesful and was abandoned but in 1842 the French settled again on the coast. Their presence was a serious treat to the trade of Dahomey, in particular the slave trade. In 1890 Behanzin, king of Dahomey Cotonou and Porto Novo attacked which was the beginning of a war with France. In 1892 Behanzin was defeated. He took refuge to Abomey where he was arrested by french troops in 1894. In the palace of Behanzin a banner with a heraldic achievement was found. The shield was blue with a disc and a shark, both white. On both sides of the sheidl were palm-trees, elepahnts tusks and snakes.

The kingdoms of Dahomey Allada and Porto Novo were united by the french into Benin Colony. The name of the colony was changed into Dahomey in 1899 because the centre of the ancient kingdom of Benin, to which some parts of Dahomy had belonged, had been situated around the confluence of the Benue and the Niger, lacated in the British colony of Nigeria.

In 1946 Dahomey became a Departement Outremer  and in 1959 an autonomous stae within the Communauté Française. In 1958 a seal was adopted. In the upper half there are indigenous arms in saltire and in the lower half a boat charged with six stars symbolizing the six provinces  Atakora, Atlantique, Borgou, Mono, Ouémé and Zou. On a scroll there is the inscription fraternité . justice . travail (Brotherhood, Justice, Work).

On 1 August 1960 Dahamey bacme an independent republic. The arms of state became a heraldic version of the seal. Arms and boat were placed on a shield surrounded by palm-leaves. The ribbon with the motto came on the traditional place below the shield.

After a coup d’étatin 1963 a second republic was proclaimed. Bij decision of 9 December of the same year a new achievement of state was adopted. The shield is white and is divide in four parts by a cross of red lines, charged in the center with a diamond of the same color. In the first quarter there is a Somba-castle symbolizing the creative spirit of the population of Dahomey. The Somba a re one of the peoples of the country. In the second quarter is the cross of the Order of the Black Star of Benin. This order was founded on1 Decmeber 1889 by king Toffo of Porto Novo. In 1894 it was taken over by the French and on 1 January 1964 it became the national order of Dahomey.

In the third quarter there is an oil-palm (Elæis guineensis - Aracaceæ) for the main trade-crop of the country. In the fourth quarter there is a sailing vessel for the European influence reaching the country from overseas.

On the shield are two cornucopia filled with breadfruit (Artocarpus communis, Moraceæ) and tw black panthers support it. The motto is on a ribbon below.

On 30 November 1975 the name of the country was changed into “République Populaire du Bénin”. The arms of state was chaged at the same time. It is a green disc with a red star like on the flag. The disc is surrounded by a round, somewhat excentrically placed frame on which are maize-cobs winded round with a red ribbon. On the bow are the initials of the Rrepublic in green letters: R.P.B..

On 1 April 1990 the form of government was chaged again into a republic and on the next 1 August the flag and arms of the former Republic of Dahomey were restored.

Cross of the Order  of the Black Star of Benin.

Heraldry

Département du Dahomey

1946-1959

Seal: A native boat on the waves, charged with six mullets, in chief two native clubs and a bow-and-arrow in saltire. In base a ribbon with the motto fraternité justice travail.

 adopted 1958

République du Dahomey

01.08.1960 - 30.11.1975

Arms: A native boat on the waves, charged with six mullets, in chief two native clubs and a bow-and-arrow in saltire.

Garland: Palmleaves

Motto: FRATERNITÉ JUSTICE TRAVAIL.

A.: Argent, a thread-cross charged in fess point with a diamond Gules, in the first a Somba-fort proper; in the second the cross of the order of the Etoile Noire du Bénin, proper; in the third an oil-palm (Elæis guineensis - Aracaceæ) proper; in the fourth on a base Azure, a carrack in full sail Sable.

Crest: Two cornucopia Sable containing breadfruit (Artocarpus communis - Moraceæ) proper.

Supporters: Two panthers (Panthera pardus - Felidæ) proper.

Motto: fraternité justice travail.

Adopted  9.xii.1964

ð See illustration in the head of this essay

République Populaire du Bénin

30.11.1975-01.07.1990

A.: Vert, a five-pointed star Gules in chief, in base a cogwheel issuant proper.

Garland: On a off-white bordure, six maize-cobs of dark-yellow colour, and a red ribbon charged with the letters R.P.B. Vert. In base a bundle of rods proper.

République DU Bénin

01.07.1990 - present

A.: Argent, a thread-cross charged in fess point with a diamond Gules, in the first a Somba-fort proper; in the second the cross of the order of the Etoile Noire du Bénin, proper; in the third an oil-palm (Elæis guineensis - Aracaceæ) proper; in the fourth on a base Azure, a carrack in full sail Sable.

Crest: Two cornucopia Sable containing breadfruit (Artocarpus communis - Moraceæ) proper.

Supporters: Two panthers (Panthera pardus - Felidæ) proper.

Motto: fraternité justice travail

Adopted 01.08.1990

ð See illustration in the head of this essay

Seal

The Seal of State

Constitué par un disque de cent vingt millimètres de diamètre, le Sceau de l’Etat représente: 

à l’avers, une pirogue chargée de six étoiles à cinq rais voguant sur des ondes, accompagnée au chef d’un arc avec une flèche en palme soutenu de deux récades en sautoir et, dans le bas, d’une banderole portant la devise « FRATERNITE – JUSTICE – TRAVAIL » avec, à l’entour, l’inscription « REPUBLIQUE DU BENIN »

au revers, un écu coupé au premier de sinople, au deuxième parti d’or et de gueules, qui sont les trois couleurs du drapeau, l’écu entouré de deux palmes au naturel les tiges passées en sautoir. 

Emblem National Assembly

The Twelve Kings of Dahomey [1]

Gangnihessou

-1620

His symbols were the male gangnihessou-bird, a drum, and a hunting stick with throwing stick. (The bird was a rebus for his name.)

Dakodonou

1620-1645

His symbols were an indigo jar (a reference to his murder of a certain indigo planter named Donou, whose body he made sport of by rolling it around in his indigo jar and whose name he appended to his own original name, ‘Dako’), a tinder box, and a war club

Aho Houegbadja

1645-1685

Houegbadja’s symbols were a fish (houe), fish trap (adja), and war club hoe (kpota)

In 1665 James, duke of York (the later James II of England) sent a crown European fashion to the king of Ardra (a rival kingdom of Dahomey) to seal the diplomatic relations between England and Ardra. The ship transporting the crown to Africa however, was captured at the African roads of Goerree by admiral Michiel de Ruyter who handed it over to the Admiralty of Amsterdam on 1 December 1665. [2]

Crown of Ardra

Coll. Rijksmuseum Amsterdam, Inv. nr. ng-nm-816a

Houessou Akaba

1685-1708

Akaba’s symbols were the warthog and a saber

Dossou Agadja

1708-1732

Agadja’s symbol is a European caravel boat

Tegbessou

1732-1774

His main symbol is a buffalo wearing a tunic. His other symbols are the blunderbuss, a weapon he gave his warriors  - the first time in Dahomey that the royal army had ready access to firearms - and a door decorated with three noseless heads, a reference to his victory over a rebellious tributary people, the Zou, whose corpses he mutilated.

Kpengla

1774-1789

His main symbol is the akpan bird, a trade gun (flintlocks became the standard issue to the Dahomean army during his reign), and a Dahomey Amazon striking her head against a tree (a reference to a humorous war story stemming from one of his military campaigns).

Agonglo

1789-1797

His symbol is the pineapple.

Adandozan

1797-1818

Adandozan's symbols were a baboon with a swollen stomach, full mouth, and ear of corn in hand (an unflattering reference to his enemy, the King of Oyo), and a large parasol (‘the king overshadows his enemies’).

Throne or royal seat

from Cana village, Benin. End 18th-beginning19th cent.

Coll Musée du Quai Branly inv. nr. 71.1893.45.8  [3]

The holy village of Cana regularly was the scene of royal ceremonies and rituals. Some kings had a secondary palace there. This seat is of Yoruba style and shows the king with his attendants, sitting under and umbrella.

Ghezo

1818-1858

Ghezo’s symbols are two birds on a tree, a buffalo, and a clay jar sieve with holes in it held by two hands, a symbol of unity.

King Gezo’s throne

Benin, Abomey, beginning 19th century.

Coll. Musée du Quai Branly inv. nr. 71-1895-16.8

Royal seat placed on a platform for the ceremonies for the deceased kings and the ditribution of gifts (ato). The style of the throne is influenced by akan (Ghanese) and Portuguese examples.

Drawing by Jaume Ollé

Flag of king Gezo

Glélé

1858-1889

Glélé’s symbols are the lion and the ritual knife of the adepts of Gu (Vodun of fire, iron, war, and cutting edges)

Club with ivory lion

Coll. Musée du Quai Branly, Paris

Ritual Sword

Coll: ?

Behanzin

1889-1894

His symbols are the shark, the egg (a rebus of his name), and a captive hanging from a flagpole (a reference to a boastful and rebellious Nago practitioner of harmful magic from Ketou whom the king hanged from a flagpole as punishment for his pride).

Achievement of Behanzin

Arms: Azure, an egg and a shark, Argent.

Supporters: Palms, snakes and elephant’s tusks.

* King Béhanzin (*1844, †1906, king 1889-1892 ), successor of the king Gléle, had a flag (Ratio 43 : 59) with a light blue field. The shield is yellow with a dark grey shark, and a white egg and tusks; green palm; light green snakes, and the ribbon white. Some inscriptions suggest manufacture by one of the many portuguese who had long had commercial relations along the coast. The french general Alfred Dodds captured the flags in the Dahomey royal Palace at Abomey on 18 November 1892. It was sent to the Musée de l'Armée in Paris, being transferred in 1932 to the Musée Colonial (the Musée des Arts Africains et Océaniens, closed in 2003). The flag is reported in the issue 145 of the Flag Bulletin. That museum has an engraving by Albert Vallon, showing a French mission being received by the king Gezo (1818-1858), with a different flag, which suggests that each king may have had his own flag. That used by Gezo is shown above. (Data: FOTW)

* The picture from the Musée de l’Armée however suggests the cloth yellow and the shield blue which is more what we would expect and which is also more in line with the engraving shown. The motto reads: REI BEHANZIN DE DAHOMEY which is portuguese for ‘King Behanzin of Dahomey’. We hope the Musée Quai Branly will publish a color picture of the flag (and of the other flags which can be seen on the view).

Armed Forces

Emblem of the Armed Forces

Arms of the General Staff

Gendarmerie