Bahag is a
loincloth
A loincloth is a one-piece garment, either wrapped around itself or kept in place by a belt. It covers the genitals and sometimes the buttocks. Loincloths which are held up by belts or strings are specifically known as breechcloth or breechclo ...
that was commonly used by men throughout the
pre-colonial Philippines. It is worn shirtless with no other extra garments. They were either made from
barkcloth
Barkcloth or bark cloth is a versatile material that was once common in Asia, Africa, and the Pacific. Barkcloth comes primarily from trees of the family Moraceae, including '' Broussonetia papyrifera'', '' Artocarpus altilis'', '' Artocarpus ...
or from hand-
woven textiles. Before the colonial period, bahag were a common garment for commoners and the serf class (the ''
alipin
The ''alipin'' refers to the lowest social class among the various cultures of the Philippines before the arrival of the Spanish in the 16th and 17th centuries. In the Visayan languages, the equivalent social classes were known as the ''oripun ...
'' caste).
Bahag survives in some
indigenous tribes of the Philippines today - most notably the
Cordillerans in Northern
Luzon
Luzon ( , ) is the largest and most populous List of islands in the Philippines, island in the Philippines. Located in the northern portion of the List of islands of the Philippines, Philippine archipelago, it is the economic and political ce ...
.
Description
The specific way to wear it involves first pulling the long piece of cloth (usually around ) in between the legs and covering the genitals, with a longer back part. The back part is then twisted across the right leg and across the waist in an anti-clockwise direction. It goes under the flap of the front part and across the left leg. It is twisted back across the back loop above the buttocks. The result resembles two rectangles of cloth hanging in front of and behind the waist, with a loop around the legs resembling a belt. The design of the weave is often unique to the tribe of the person wearing the bahag. The colors of the bahag can also indicate social status among some Igorot groups, with commoners usually wearing bahag in plain white.
Among pre-colonial
Visayans
Visayans ( Cebuano: ''mga Bisayà'' ) are a Philippine ethnolinguistic family group or metaethnicity native to the Visayas, to the southernmost islands south of Luzon, and to a significant portion of Mindanao. They are composed of numerous d ...
, wearing a bahag as casual clothing was common, even among nobility, because it showed off
tattoos
A tattoo is a form of body modification made by inserting tattoo ink, dyes, or pigments, either indelible or temporary, into the dermis layer of the Human skin, skin to form a design. Tattoo artists create these designs using several Process of ...
that indicate rank and prestige.
Modern bahags have since found their way to the lowlands as table runners, serviettes, and other decor and fashion accoutrements.
The native
Tagalog word for "rainbow", ''bahaghari'', literally means "loincloth of the king".
Gallery
File:Igorot Practice 010.jpg, Young man wearing a traditional Ifugao
Ifugao, officially the Province of Ifugao (; ), is a landlocked province of the Philippines in the Cordillera Administrative Region in Luzon. Its capital is Lagawe and it borders Benguet to the west, Mountain Province to the north, Isabela t ...
bahag (''wanoh'')
File:Igorot.jpg, Old Ifugao man with a bahag
File:Antonio, Chief of Bontoc Igorot (c.1915).jpg, A chieftain of the Bontoc people
The Bontoc (or Bontok) ethnolinguistic group can be found in the central and eastern portions of Mountain Province, on the island of Luzon in the Philippines. Although some Bontocs of Natonin and Paracelis identify themselves as Balangao people, B ...
wearing a bahag
File:Zambals 1.png, Sambal
Sambal is an Indonesian chili sauce or paste, typically made from a mixture of chillis with secondary ingredients such as shrimp paste (terasi), garlic, ginger, shallot, scallion, palm sugar, and lime juice. ''Sambal'' is an Indonesia ...
hunters wearing bahag from the Boxer Codex (c.1590)
File:Visayans 1.png, Tattooed Visayan
Visayans ( Cebuano: ''mga Bisayà'' ) are a Philippine ethnolinguistic family group or metaethnicity native to the Visayas, to the southernmost islands south of Luzon, and to a significant portion of Mindanao. They are composed of numerous di ...
warriors wearing bahag from the Boxer Codex (c.1590)
File:Ifugao (Philippines) Bridal pair LCCN2014690054.jpg, An Ifugao bridal pair (c. 1910). A newly-woven loincloth is part of the ''kango'' headdress of the man.
See also
*
Tapis (Philippine clothing)
Tapis across various cultures in the Philippines may generally refer to a single, rectangular piece of cloth one wraps around oneself as clothing, but is also the term for a colorful, hand-woven wraparound skirt common in the pre-colonial per ...
References
* Scott, William Henry (1994). ''Barangay: Sixteenth Century Philippine Culture and Society.'' Quezon City: Ateneo de Manila University Press. .
External links
{{commons category, Bahag
A demonstration of how bahag is traditionally tied
Philippine clothing
History of Asian clothing