The keffiyeh (),
also regionally known as a hattah (), ghutrah (), or shemagh (), is a traditional
headdress
Headgear, headwear, or headdress is any element of clothing which is worn on one's head, including hats, helmets, turbans and many other types. Headgear is worn for many purposes, including protection against the elements, decoration, or fo ...
worn by men from parts of the
Middle East
The Middle East (term originally coined in English language) is a geopolitical region encompassing the Arabian Peninsula, the Levant, Turkey, Egypt, Iran, and Iraq.
The term came into widespread usage by the United Kingdom and western Eur ...
. It is fashioned from a square scarf, and is usually made of
cotton
Cotton (), first recorded in ancient India, is a soft, fluffy staple fiber that grows in a boll, or protective case, around the seeds of the cotton plants of the genus '' Gossypium'' in the mallow family Malvaceae. The fiber is almost pure ...
.
The keffiyeh is commonly found in
arid
Aridity is the condition of geographical regions which make up approximately 43% of total global available land area, characterized by low annual precipitation, increased temperatures, and limited water availability.Perez-Aguilar, L. Y., Plata ...
regions, as it protects from
sunburn
Sunburn is a form of radiation burn that affects living tissue, such as skin, that results from an overexposure to ultraviolet (UV) radiation, usually from the Sun. Common symptoms in humans and other animals include red or reddish skin tha ...
, dust, and sand. A head cord, ''
agal Agal or AGAL may refer to:
*Agal (accessory)
An agal (; also spelled iqal, egal, or igal) is a clothing accessory traditionally worn by Arab men. It is a doubled black cord used to keep a keffiyeh in place on the wearer's head. Agals are traditio ...
'', is often used by Arabs to keep the keffiyeh in place.
Etymology
Keffiyeh
The word ''keffiyeh'' appeared in Arabic after the
Crusades
The Crusades were a series of religious wars initiated, supported, and at times directed by the Papacy during the Middle Ages. The most prominent of these were the campaigns to the Holy Land aimed at reclaiming Jerusalem and its surrounding t ...
,
[ Used in the work of ]Al-Maqrizi
Al-Maqrīzī (, full name Taqī al-Dīn Abū al-'Abbās Aḥmad ibn 'Alī ibn 'Abd al-Qādir ibn Muḥammad al-Maqrīzī, ; 1364–1442) was a medieval Egyptian historian and biographer during the Mamluk era, known for his interest in the Fat ...
(1364-1442):
al-Mawāʻiẓ wa-al-Iʻtibār bi-Dhikr al-Khiṭaṭ wa-al-āthār
'. 1906. Vol. 3. p. 326. and probably shares a European etymology with English "
coif
A coif () is a close fitting cap worn by both men and women that covers the top, back, and sides of the head.
History
Coifs date from the tenth century, but fell out of popularity with men in the fourteenth century."A New Look for Women." Arts ...
".
Some argue that it was imported indirectly through , "
cuff
A cuff is a layer of fabric at the lower edge of the sleeve of a garment (shirt, coat, jacket, etc.) at the wrist, or at the ankle end of a trouser leg. The function of turned-back cuffs is to protect the cloth of the garment from fraying, and, ...
".
Murtada al-Zabidi derives ''keffiyeh'' from , "
cave
Caves or caverns are natural voids under the Earth's Planetary surface, surface. Caves often form by the weathering of rock and often extend deep underground. Exogene caves are smaller openings that extend a relatively short distance undergrou ...
", due to the rounded shape of the headscarf. A folk etymology associates it with the city of
Kufa, Iraq.
Ghutrah
The word ''ghutrah'' () comes from the Arabic root ''ghatr'' () which means "to cover". The early pictures of Arabs invariably show them wearing
turbans
A turban (from Persian دولبند, ''dolband''; via Middle French ''turbant'') is a type of headwear based on cloth winding. Featuring many variations, it is worn as customary headwear by people of various cultures. Communities with promi ...
, and it is unclear when the keffiyeh became acceptable for the upper classes. While the written reports of ghutrah date back to the early 18th century, the earliest known picture is from the 19th century (
Abdullah bin Saud Al Saud, made before his execution in 1819).
Origin
Headscarves evolved among desert nomads as a practical protection from the sun.
Varieties and variations
Middle Eastern
Arabs
Arabs (, , ; , , ) are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in West Asia and North Africa. A significant Arab diaspora is present in various parts of the world.
Arabs have been in the Fertile Crescent for thousands of yea ...
,
Kurds
Kurds (), or the Kurdish people, are an Iranian peoples, Iranic ethnic group from West Asia. They are indigenous to Kurdistan, which is a geographic region spanning southeastern Turkey, northwestern Iran, northern Iraq, and northeastern Syri ...
, and
Yazidis
Yazidis, also spelled Yezidis (; ), are a Kurdish languages, Kurdish-speaking Endogamy, endogamous religious group indigenous to Kurdistan, a geographical region in Western Asia that includes parts of Iraq, Syria, Turkey, and Iran. The major ...
wear this headpiece. According to
Anastas al-Karmali
Butrus Mikha'il 'Awwad al-Marini ( / ; 5 August 1866: "ولد الأب أنستاس ماري الكرملي، في بغداد، يوم ٥ آب ١٨٦٦، من أب لبناني الأصل، وأم بغدادية. / تلقى دروسه الابتد ...
,
Johannes Cotovicus mentioned a 16th-century
Jewish
Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...
keffiyeh.
Historically, after contact with Arabs, some Kurds abandoned their traditional turban in favor of the keffiyeh and
agal Agal or AGAL may refer to:
*Agal (accessory)
An agal (; also spelled iqal, egal, or igal) is a clothing accessory traditionally worn by Arab men. It is a doubled black cord used to keep a keffiyeh in place on the wearer's head. Agals are traditio ...
.
Iraqi Turkmen
The Iraqi Turkmen (, عراق تورکمنلری; Arabic: تركمان العراق), also referred to as Iraqi Turks, (, عراق توركلری; ) are the third largest ethnic group in Iraq. They make up to 10%–13% of the Iraqi population. I ...
wear it and call it Jamadani, while
Omanis
Omanis () are the nationals of Sultanate of Oman, located in the southeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula. Omanis have inhabited the territory that is now Oman. In the eighteenth century, an alliance of traders and rulers transformed Muscat ...
call it a mussar. No matter its name, it is available in multiple colours and styles with many different methods of tying it, depending on regional origin and the nature of occasion. Omanis do not use the agal, instead tying it over the
kuma for formal occasions.

During his sojourn with the
Marsh Arabs
The Marsh Arabs (Arabic: عرب الأهوار ʻArab al-Ahwār "Arabs of the Marshlands"), also referred to as Ahwaris, the Maʻdān (Arabic: معدان "dweller in the plains") or Shroog ( "those from the east")—the latter two often conside ...
of Iraq,
Gavin Young
Gavin David Young (24 April 1928 – 18 January 2001) was a journalist and travel writer.
Early life
He was born in Bude, Cornwall, England. His father, Gavin Young, was a lieutenant colonel in the Welsh Guards. Daphne, his mother, was the daught ...
noted that the local ''
sayyid
''Sayyid'' is an honorific title of Hasanid and Husaynid lineage, recognized as descendants of the Islamic prophet Muhammad through his daughter Fatima and Ali's sons Hasan ibn Ali, Hasan and Husayn ibn Ali, Husayn. The title may also refer ...
s''—"venerated men accepted
..as descendants of the Prophet
Muhammad
Muhammad (8 June 632 CE) was an Arab religious and political leader and the founder of Islam. Muhammad in Islam, According to Islam, he was a prophet who was divinely inspired to preach and confirm the tawhid, monotheistic teachings of A ...
and
Ali ibn Abi Talib
Ali ibn Abi Talib (; ) was the fourth Rashidun caliph who ruled from until Assassination of Ali, his assassination in 661, as well as the first imamate in Shia doctrine, Shia Imam. He was the cousin and son-in-law of the Islamic prophet Muha ...
"—wore dark green keffiyeh in contrast to the black-and-white checkered examples typical of the area's inhabitants.
Jordanian shemagh
Another type of keffiyeh is the shemagh, which is a scarf that is red-and-white, checkered and has tassels. The bigger the tassels, the more important the person. This red-and-white keffiyeh is associated with Jordan and is its national symbol. The shemagh is worn mostly in Jordan and by Bedouin communities.
It is made from cotton. The Jordanian shemagh and the Palestinian keffiyeh are different in regard to color and geographical meanings.
Palestinian keffiyeh
Prior to the 1930s, Arab villagers and peasants wore the white keffiyeh and
agal (rope) while city residents and the educated elite wore the
Ottoman tarbush (fez). During the
1936–1939 Arab revolt in Palestine
A popular uprising by Palestinian Arabs in Mandatory Palestine against the British administration, later known as the Great Revolt, the Great Palestinian Revolt, or the Palestinian Revolution, lasted from 1936 until 1939. The movement sought i ...
, Arab rebel commanders ordered all Arabs to don the keffiyeh. In 1938,
British Mandatory High Commissioner in Palestine,
Harold MacMichael, reported to the Foreign Office: "This ‘order’ has been obeyed with surprising docility and it is not an exaggeration to say that in a month eight out of every ten
tarbushes in the country had been replaced by the
effiyeh and‘agal’." Following the end of the revolt, most residents either reverted to wearing the tarbush or elected to go hatless.
The black and white keffiyeh’s prominence increased during the 1960s with the beginning of the Palestinian resistance movement and its adoption by Palestinian leader
Yasser Arafat
Yasser Arafat (4 or 24 August 1929 – 11 November 2004), also popularly known by his Kunya (Arabic), kunya Abu Ammar, was a Palestinian political leader. He was chairman of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) from 1969 to 2004, Presid ...
.
Other shemagh variations
Other regional shemagh variations are the Egyptian Sinai shemagh and the Saudi shemagh (also known as a ghutrah).
Other cultural symbolisms
Early Jewish migrants to
Mandatory Palestine
Mandatory Palestine was a British Empire, British geopolitical entity that existed between 1920 and 1948 in the Palestine (region), region of Palestine, and after 1922, under the terms of the League of Nations's Mandate for Palestine.
After ...
adopted the Keffiyeh because they saw it as part of the authentic local lifestyle. Up until the 2000s, Turkey banned the keffiyeh because it was considered a symbol of solidarity with the
PKK.
Westerners in keffiyeh

British
Colonel
Colonel ( ; abbreviated as Col., Col, or COL) is a senior military Officer (armed forces), officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations.
In the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries, a colon ...
T. E. Lawrence (better known as ''Lawrence of Arabia'') was probably the best-known Western wearer of the keffiyeh and agal during his involvement in the
Arab Revolt
The Arab Revolt ( ), also known as the Great Arab Revolt ( ), was an armed uprising by the Hashemite-led Arabs of the Hejaz against the Ottoman Empire amidst the Middle Eastern theatre of World War I.
On the basis of the McMahon–Hussein Co ...
in
World War I
World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...
. This image of Lawrence was later popularized by the film epic about him, ''
Lawrence of Arabia'', in which he was portrayed by
Peter O'Toole
Peter Seamus O'Toole (; 2 August 1932 – 14 December 2013) was an English actor known for his leading roles on stage and screen. His numerous accolades include the Academy Honorary Award, a BAFTA Award, a Primetime Emmy Award, and four Golde ...
.
Many of the Jewish
Zionist
Zionism is an Ethnic nationalism, ethnocultural nationalist movement that emerged in History of Europe#From revolution to imperialism (1789–1914), Europe in the late 19th century that aimed to establish and maintain a national home for the ...
immigrants to Ottoman Palestine and British
Mandatory Palestine
Mandatory Palestine was a British Empire, British geopolitical entity that existed between 1920 and 1948 in the Palestine (region), region of Palestine, and after 1922, under the terms of the League of Nations's Mandate for Palestine.
After ...
wore the keffiyeh in emulation of the Arab population out of the desire for "closeness and a sense of belonging to the place".
These included youth group members, political notables, and militiamen, including
Hashomer. Other Jewish residents of Palestine wore the keffiyeh for studio photograph sessions as Orientalist dress.
After the
1929 Palestine riots
The 1929 Palestine riots, Buraq Uprising (, ) or the Events of 1929 (, , ''lit.'' Events of 5689 Anno Mundi), was a series of demonstrations and riots in late August 1929 in which a longstanding dispute between Palestinian Arabs and Jews ove ...
and the
1936–1939 Arab revolt in Palestine
A popular uprising by Palestinian Arabs in Mandatory Palestine against the British administration, later known as the Great Revolt, the Great Palestinian Revolt, or the Palestinian Revolution, lasted from 1936 until 1939. The movement sought i ...
, "the popularity of the keffiyeh began to decline and Jewish attempts to emulate the Arabs became less common, but throughout the 1940s and 1950s, the keffiyeh could still be spotted in Israel," including on politicians and soldiers. As the keffiyeh became a key component of Yasser Arafat's signature look, it definitively lost popularity among Israelis and was associated exclusively with the Palestinian nationalist movement.
The 1920s' silent-film era of
American cinema saw studios take to
Orientalist themes of the exotic Middle East, possibly due to the view of Arabs as part of the
Allies of World War I
The Allies or the Entente (, ) was an international military coalition of countries led by the French Republic, the United Kingdom, the Russian Empire, the United States, the Kingdom of Italy, and the Empire of Japan against the Central Powers ...
, and keffiyehs became a standard part of the theatrical wardrobe. These films and their male leads typically had Western actors in the role of an Arab, often wearing the keffiyeh with the agal (as with ''
The Sheik'' and ''
The Son of the Sheik'', starring actor
Rudolph Valentino
Rodolfo Pietro Filiberto Raffaello Guglielmi di Valentina d'Antonguella (May 6, 1895 – August 23, 1926), known professionally as Rudolph Valentino and nicknamed The Latin Lover, was an Italian actor who starred in several well-known sile ...
).
During the 2001 Iraq and Afghanistan wars, members of the United States Armed Forces began wearing keffiyeh for practical reasons. While the scarves were never issued by the American armed forces directly, many private tactical equipment retailers marketed and sold them to service personnel in the Marines and Army. The scarves were usually dyed into color schemes that closely matched the service uniforms, and bore symbols that appealed to Western consumers (''e.g.'', skull and cross bones,
Gadsden snakes, and Spartan helmets). Black and coyote-brown keffiyeh are still commonly worn by military veterans without any implied support for Arab nationalism or similar causes, and at times can carry the opposite message.
Fashion trend
As with other articles of clothing worn in wartime, such as the
T-shirt
A T-shirt (also spelled tee shirt, or tee for short) is a style of fabric shirt named after the T shape of its body and sleeves. Traditionally, it has short sleeves and a round neckline, known as a '' crew neck'', which lacks a collar. T-shir ...
, fatigues and
khaki
The color khaki (, ) is a light shade of tan (color), tan with a slight yellowish tinge.
Khaki has been used by many armies around the world for uniforms and equipment, particularly in arid or desert regions, where it provides camouflage rela ...
pants, the keffiyeh has been seen as chic among non-Arabs in the West. Keffiyehs became popular in the UK in the 1970s and then in the United States in the late 1980s at the start of the
First Intifada
The First Intifada (), also known as the First Palestinian Intifada, was a sustained series of Nonviolent resistance, non-violent protests, acts of civil disobedience, Riot, riots, and Terrorism, terrorist attacks carried out by Palestinians ...
, when
bohemian
Bohemian or Bohemians may refer to:
*Anything of or relating to Bohemia
Culture and arts
* Bohemianism, an unconventional lifestyle, originally practised by 19th–20th century European and American artists and writers.
* Bohemian style, a ...
girls and
punks wore keffiyehs as
scarves
A scarf (: scarves or scarfs) is a long piece of fabric that is worn on or around the neck, shoulders, or head. A scarf is used for warmth, sun protection, cleanliness, fashion, religious reasons, or to show support for a sports club or team. ...
around their necks.
In the early 2000s, keffiyehs were very popular among youths in Tokyo, who often wore them with
camouflage
Camouflage is the use of any combination of materials, coloration, or illumination for concealment, either by making animals or objects hard to see, or by disguising them as something else. Examples include the leopard's spotted coat, the b ...
clothing.
The trend recurred in the mid-2000s in the United States,
Europe,
Canada and Australia, when the keffiyeh became popular as a
fashion accessory
In fashion, an accessory is an item used to contribute, in a secondary manner, to an individual's outfit. Accessories are often chosen to complete an outfit and complement the wearer's look. They have the capacity to further express an individua ...
, usually worn as a scarf around the neck in
hipster circles.
Stores such as
Urban Outfitters
Urban Outfitters, Inc. (URBN) is a multinational lifestyle retail corporation headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Operating in the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, select Western European countries, Poland, the United Arab Em ...
and
TopShop stocked the item. However, after some controversy over the retailer's decision to label the items "anti-war scarves", Urban Outfitters pulled it.
In spring 2008, keffiyehs in colors such as purple and mauve were given away in issues of fashion magazines in Spain and France. In the UAE, males are inclining towards more Western headgear while women are developing preferences for
dupatta—the traditional head cover of South Asia. The appropriation of the keffiyeh as a fashion statement by non-Arab wearers separate from its political and historical meaning has been the subject of controversy in recent years.
While it is often worn as a symbol of solidarity with the Palestinian struggle, the fashion industry has disregarded its significance by using its pattern and style in day-to-day clothing design. For example, in 2016, Topshop released a romper suit with the Keffiyeh print, calling it a "scarf playsuit". This led to accusations of
cultural appropriation
Cultural appropriation is the adoption of an element or elements of one culture or cultural identity, identity by members of another culture or identity in a manner perceived as inappropriate or unacknowledged. Such a controversy typically ari ...
and Topshop eventually pulled the item from their website.
See also
References
Further reading
*
*
*
*
*
External links
"The Keffiyeh and the Arab Heartland" from
About.com
Dotdash Meredith (formerly The Mining Company, About.com and Dotdash) is an American digital media company based in New York City. The company publishes online articles and videos about various subjects across categories including health, hom ...
"Saudi Aramco World: The dye that binds" by Caroline Stone
More references about a sudra on page 962from Jastrow Dictionary Online
from Arab American blog Kabobfest
Che Couture Gives way to Kurds' Puşi Chicby
Işıl Eğrikavuk
Işıl Eğrikavuk (born November 7, 1980) is a Turkish-born international performance artist and academic, based in Berlin, Germany. Her work utilizes storytelling, journalism and dialogue-based practices and examines critical themes including pr ...
, ''Hurriyet''
Palestinian Keffiyeh outgrows Mideast conflictHirbawi: The Only Original Kufiya Made in Palestine
{{Authority control
Arab culture
Arabic clothing
Clothing in politics
Headgear
History of Asian clothing
Islamic male clothing
Middle Eastern clothing
Palestinian nationalism
Palestinian clothing
Scarves
Yemeni clothing