A beaded cone-shaped crown with a long fringe of beads that covers the wearers face is the most important symbol of Yoruba kingship. Beaded crowns signify that the king-wearer can trace his ancestry to Odudua, the mythical founder of the sixteen original Yoruba kingdoms.

This crown, formed by starched cotton placed over a basketry structure, is decorated with beaded face, birds and geometric patterns. The faces represent local kings, present, and past. The gathering of the birds refers both to ritual that the king semidivine and to the concealed forces that enable him to control and mediate the human and supernatural realms. Interlace pattern called Salubata are associated with royalty or leadership which symbols continuity. The veil protects the kings subject from the supernatural power radiating from his face.

According to the crown makers of Efon-Alaiye, the earliest crowns were decorated with beads of one color [ made in blue segi], the next generation crown was in red coral beads but crowns are now decorated with brilliant colors as a result of the Portuguese introduction in the late15th century. A Yoruba king has different beaded crown worn for different or a particular occassions.