According to history, Sango was a king of the Oyo Kingdom, the third Alaafin (King) who ruled Oyo fearlessly. He was powerful, fearless, and short tempered; he spits fire when angry. He is known to always wield his double headed axe. His colour representation is red and white. Sango had magical powers which made him the ‘god of lightning and thunder’ for the Yoruba people. He was a great king before transforming to a deity. Today, the worshipers still possess some of his features. They dress like Sango and could breathe fire, and are extremely pyromaniac (an obsessive desire to set fire to things).

Sango has become one of the ancestral fathers and deities of the Yoruba, Caribbean and certain Latin American people. Shango is worshipped in Haitian Voodoo, as a god of thunder and weather. In Brazil, he is worshipped as Xangô especially in the city of Recife, and in the Afro-Brazilian religion of Umbanda, he is worshipped as Loa Nago Shango. In Trinidad, he is worshipped as Shango, the god of thunder, drumming and dance. In Cuba, Puerto Rico and Venezuela, he is worshipped as Changó. To promote the Yoruba culture and heritage, and to honour the Sango deity, an annual festival has been put in place which takes place in the present-day Oyo town.