Rasta Lion

2027 x 2875 | Rastafarian art - Kozachok style. "Rasta Lion" | The Lion of Judah is a prominent symbol in the Rastafari movement. It represents Emperor Haile Selassie I as well as being a symbol of strength, kingship, pride and African sovereignty. As both symbol and beast, the lion has proven to be a source of fascination for man, woman, and child. The timeless awe in which human culture holds this animal can perhaps best be seen in the Ardèche Valley of Southern France. Here, within the Chauvet Cave, are walls which reveal how Paleolithic man lived roughly 32,000 years ago, portraying the animals he both hunted and lived alongside. This famed archaeological site is decorated with intricate paintings of bison, horses, mammoths, but most predominantly, lions. The symbol of the lion is connected to Haile Selassie, an emperor of Ethiopia whom the Rastafarians worship as the Messiah. Rastafarians believe that Selassie’s lineage can be traced back to the Tribe of Judah, which itself used the lion as a symbol. Consequently, Rastafari refer to him as the Conquering Lion of the Tribe of Judah. They believed that Haile Selassie, as the inheritor of the lineage of the House of Solomon, was the Second Coming, and that he could return to Africa members of the black community who were living in exile as the result of colonization and the slave trade.