The Interlocking Rings Wax Print: Meaning of an Everyday Motif
Blue and orange circles clinging to one another, forming a chain with no beginning or end. Where they cross, small four-petaled flowers appear, as if every encounter brings something new to bloom. The Interlocking Rings fabric has no grand legend or palace rumor: it is an everyday fabric, cheerful and rhythmic, worn for pleasure.
The Interlocking Rings fabric in brief
- Type: a wax fabric, cotton printed with wax.
- Design: interlocking blue and orange rings forming a chain, with small flowers at their intersections.
- Family: everyday fabrics.
- Symbolism: union, friendship, family holding hands.
An everyday fabric
The women traders of Cotonou and Lomé classify fabrics into broad families. Alongside fabrics of love, prosperity, or the table, there are those of everyday life: patterns inspired by objects, inventions, and scenes from daily life. The Zinsou Foundation's Wax Stories collection places this ring fabric alongside the Gamaphone, the Electric Bulb, or Ludo Kouin.
The circle, a shape that brings people together
The circle is one of the oldest shapes in African art. It depicts the sun and the moon, the round huts of villages, gourds, and above all, the circle of people: the one formed to dance, to talk under the tree, to listen to a storyteller, or to share a meal around the same dish. A circle has no first or last: everyone has their place.
When the circles interlock, the image becomes even more powerful. Each ring holds its neighbor, and the chain holds together only because everyone remains connected. It is easily seen as a family, a group of friends, a community: different people, of different colors, moving forward together.
The flowers at the intersections
The prettiest detail of the design is hidden at the meeting points. Where two rings overlap, a small four-petaled flower appears. As if every bond, every encounter, brought something beautiful to life. It is this detail that makes this fabric so cheerful to look at.
What the Interlocking Rings say
- Union: rings holding onto one another, like the links of a chain.
- Friendship and family: each keeps its color, but remains connected to the others.
- Encounter: the flowers born at the intersections.
- Joy: a rhythmic pattern, worn every day.
The pattern's cousins
Circles are numerous in wax fabric. They become the grooves of a record in the Gamaphone, and two colors dancing together in Our Intertwined Destinies. To understand how fabrics receive their names, read our article on the history of wax and the language of fabrics.
Our tribute to the Interlocking Rings
At KEMI HOME ART, these blue and orange rings adorn the interior of our hammered mugs, tea cups, and coffee cups. Each design is prepared in our workshop in Alfortville, then applied and glazed by hand before firing, made to order.
Hammered mug, Interlocking Rings
Tea cup and saucer, Interlocking Rings
Coffee cup and saucer, Interlocking Rings
All our pieces are customizable: color, first name, date, or message. Write to us.
Frequently asked questions
What does the Interlocking Rings fabric mean?
Union and friendship: circles holding onto one another like the links of a chain, each keeping its color.
What family of fabrics does it belong to?
Everyday fabrics, which celebrate objects and scenes from daily life.
What do the small flowers in the pattern represent?
They appear where the rings cross, as if every encounter brought something beautiful to life.