OK this is a problematic subject as "West Sudanese" is a generic term for a vast area that had numerous city states and successive empires dominating a vast Savannah, bush land and woodlands over many centuries. But heh-ho if you don't ask you don't learn.
I am trying to avoid Islamic banners [although certainly the aristocracy ruling many city states (eg Hausa) or empires (like Songhai) were probably Muslims whom you would expect to use Islamic like banners ie green, black or red cloth or silk with religious saying attached], as these can be sourced in many places and I am wanting to avoid looking like another Arab or Muslim feudal army (as I have several of these!).
Instead I am trying to be imaginative in absence of any historical evidence - but if you know of any let me know - as to what banners might have looked like or appeared on the battlefields of the Western Sudan Savanna from earliest times till 12th or 13th century?
I went back to Alan Todd's articles in Slingshots 216, 217 and 221 where he included mention of 12 signal banners, and also gave two examples of banners, one Fulani (and Muslim) banner with what looks like 'Arabic' like writing on it; and another from Hausa of a cavalry standard. I assume both are related to the period of the Songhai Empire, which was his main theme.
In being imaginative I am thinking how the Abyssinians / Ethiopians in 19th century had banners of strips of coloured silk or cloth, that later became their 'tricolour' flag and how early Arab armies also used strips of coloured cloth or silk as clan banners. I am not sure when silk became evident / available in Western Africa; although it appears the Kente textiles of modern and ancient Ghana seem to have a long history suggesting possibilities for brightly coloured cloth banners.
Of course in the pre-Islamic era, and even till late 19th century many tribal clans held to 'shaman' like practices or likes of Juju practices and beliefs which were common in what is now Ghana, Nigeria, and Cameroon. So if I field a very early army I could be imaginative and give my leader an auroch or oryx skull on a pole / spearhead (have to be a small auroch!) to symbolise the capturing of the power of the animal by the army, its chief, and its shaman. But I am being imaginative here!
All ideas or historical notes, however lateral in nature, would be welcomed.
CarlL
One possibility, that opens up numerous other possibilities, is to use adrinka and akan symbols which have been used in Ghana, in buildings, textiles and gold weights. They are usually symbols depicting an abstract idea (as I understand them) and there are many such symbols with a long history of use (almost as a pictogram language) in West Africa. So symbols can be used to depict strength.
So these may be options for my banners.
CarlL
Tijani's "The Mune in pre-colonial Borno" (https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/14501736.pdf) is about an ancient Bornu document, described as "... something wrapped up and concealed ...." and "it is always carried in front while the national army is engaging in battles". A Bornu army might therefore carry a wrapped-up book or scroll as a sort of "army standard".
Duncan that would make an interesting generals element!
Carl