The “Wakanda Forever” Symbol Is Showing Up Everywhere

Having crossed the $1 billion mark at the global box office, Black Panther doesn’t exactly need to prove its cultural ubiquity. But a remarkable number of Wakanda tributes are popping up all over the world, from the now de rigueur YouTube fan videos to songs inspired by Wakanda to an Illinois town with a name that isn’t even Wakanda, but just sounds a lot like it.

And, as Slate pointed out Sunday, athletes may be the most visible Wakanda super-fans, as black athletes around the world have been flashing the “Wakanda Forever” hand signal as flawlessly as Danai Gurira and Lupita Nyong’o did on the screen.

Tennis player Sachia Vickery talked to WTA Tennis about the Wakanda Forever symbol she gave after her victory in the BNP Paribas Open.

“That was definitely ‘Wakanda Forever,’” Vickery said when asked about her salute to the crowd. “I’m so obsessed with the movie. It’s taking over my life. I have seen it four times already. Literally, I’m obsessed. I have watched it twice here. I may just keep watching it because it's been working out well for me.”

“#WakandaForever” is all over Vickery’s Twitter account, including when it comes to congratulating her fellow athletes.

The symbol made its way to the soccer world, when Jesse Lingard, of Manchester United, used the symbol in a match against Chelsea in February.

And to the WWE, when Titus O’Neil and Apollo entered the ring:

(O’Neil's Black Panther advocacy goes relatively far back: he sponsored 500 kids in the Tampa area to see the movie.)

Who can really blame these sporty humans? Everyone has Wakanda on the brain. CNN host Angela Rye told Vanity Fair last week that she has been has mostly been inspired sartorially by the movie.

She said a black beret she recently wore was a nod to the Black Panthers of the 1960s and Angela Davis, “but Black Panther just came out, so I’m all Wakanda everything right now.”

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