Salakot is a traditional lightweight

headgear Headgear, headwear, or headdress is any element of clothing which is worn on one's Human head, head, including hats, helmets, turbans and many other types. Headgear is worn for many purposes, including protective clothing, protection against t ...

from the

Philippines The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...

commonly used for protection against the sun and rain. Variants occur among

ethnic groups An ethnicity or ethnic group is a group of people with shared attributes, which they collectively believe to have, and long-term endogamy. Ethnicities share attributes like language, culture, common sets of ancestry, traditions, society, rel ...

, but all are shaped like a

dome A dome () is an architectural element similar to the hollow upper half of a sphere. There is significant overlap with the term cupola, which may also refer to a dome or a structure on top of a dome. The precise definition of a dome has been a m ...

cone In geometry, a cone is a three-dimensional figure that tapers smoothly from a flat base (typically a circle) to a point not contained in the base, called the '' apex'' or '' vertex''. A cone is formed by a set of line segments, half-lines ...

and can range in size from having very wide brims to being almost helmet-like. Made from various materials including

bamboo Bamboos are a diverse group of mostly evergreen perennial plant, perennial flowering plants making up the subfamily (biology), subfamily Bambusoideae of the grass family Poaceae. Giant bamboos are the largest members of the grass family, in th ...

rattan Rattan, also spelled ratan (from Malay language, Malay: ''rotan''), is the name for roughly 600 species of Old World climbing palms belonging to subfamily Calamoideae. The greatest diversity of rattan palm species and genera are in the clos ...

, nito ferns, and

bottle gourd Calabash (; ''Lagenaria siceraria''), also known as bottle gourd, white-flowered gourd, long melon, birdhouse gourd, New Guinea bean, New Guinea butter bean, Tasmania bean, and opo squash, is a vine grown for its fruit. It can be either harvest ...

, the salakot is held in place by an inner headband and a chinstrap. The tip of the crown commonly has a spiked or knobbed

finial A finial () or hip-knob is an element marking the top or end of some object, often formed to be a decorative feature. In architecture, it is a small decorative device, employed to emphasize the Apex (geometry), apex of a dome, spire, tower, roo ...

made of metal or wood. The salakot is the direct precursor to the

pith helmet The pith helmet, also known as the safari helmet, salacot, sola topee, sun helmet, topee, and topi is a lightweight cloth-covered helmet made of sholapith. The pith helmet originates from the Spanish Empire, Spanish military adaptation of the nat ...

(also called '' salacot'' in Spanish and ''salacco'' in French) widely used by European military forces in the

colonial era Colonial period (a period in a country's history where it was subject to management by a colonial power) may refer to: Continents *European colonization of the Americas * Colonisation of Africa * Western imperialism in Asia Countries * Col ...

Description

Salakot is a general term for a range of related traditional headgear used by virtually all ethnic groups of the Philippines. It is usually dome-shaped or cone-shaped, but various other styles also exist, including versions with dome-shaped, cone-shaped, or flat crowns with a flat or gently sloping brim. The tip of the crown commonly has a spiked or knobbed

made of metal or wood (sometimes with horsehair or feather plumes). The rim may also feature tassels of beads, feathers, or metal ornaments. They can range in size from having very wide brims to being almost helmet-like. It is held in place by an inner headband (''baat'') and a chinstrap. It was widely used in the Philippines until the 20th century when it was largely replaced by western-style hats. Salakot can be made from various materials including

, nito,

, buri straw, nipa leaves, pandan leaves,

carabao Carabaos () are a genetically distinct population of swamp-type water buffaloes ('' Bubalus bubalis kerabau'') from the Philippines.FAO 2013''Philippine Carabao/Philippines''In: Domestic Animal Diversity Information System. Food and Agriculture ...

horn, and tortoiseshell. The way they are manufactured and ornamented varies by ethnic group. Salakot can also have named subtypes based on the material used. Among Tagalogs for example, salakot made from split bamboo were known as ''tinipas'', while salakot made from dried bottle gourd were known as ''takukom''. They can also be coated with

resin A resin is a solid or highly viscous liquid that can be converted into a polymer. Resins may be biological or synthetic in origin, but are typically harvested from plants. Resins are mixtures of organic compounds, predominantly terpenes. Commo ...

to make them waterproof. Most salakot were simple and were made from cheap materials. These were worn as protection against the sun and rain by farmers and fishermen. More elaborate ones, made from rarer materials with inlaid ornaments and tassels, were treated as precious heirloom objects, handed down from generation to generation. They were status symbols and could be used as currency, as collateral for a promise, or as gifts. Some salakot also had cloth overlays (which are commonly decorated with elaborate embroidery) or have linings which can have pockets used for storing valuables and money, as well as

tobacco Tobacco is the common name of several plants in the genus '' Nicotiana'' of the family Solanaceae, and the general term for any product prepared from the cured leaves of these plants. More than 70 species of tobacco are known, but the ...

or betel leaves.

Variants

The name salakot is derived from the version of the headgear from the Tagalog and

Kapampangan people The Kapampangan people (), Pampangueños or Pampangos, are the sixth largest ethnolinguistic group in the Philippines, numbering about 2,784,526 in 2010. They live mainly in the provinces of Pampanga, Bataan and Tarlac, as well as Bulacan, Nuev ...

. The names of similar headgear in other

ethnic groups of the Philippines The Philippines is inhabited by more than 182 Ethnolinguistic group, ethnolinguistic groups, many of which are classified as "Indigenous Peoples" under the country's Indigenous Peoples' Rights Act of 1997. Traditionally-Muslim minorities from ...

include: *Talugong – salakot of the

Ivatan people The Ivatan people are an Austronesian ethnolinguistic group native to the Batanes and Babuyan Islands of the northernmost Philippines. They are genetically closely related to other ethnic groups in Northern Luzon, but also share close linguis ...

. It is worn by men paired with a vest of voyavoy palm leaves called ''kana-i'' or ''kanayi''. Women, in turn, wear a straw cowl called a ''vakul''. *Hallidung – also known as lido, are the salakot of the Ifugao people. Usually made from twilled

and covered in a coating of

to make it waterproof. *Kalugung – are the salakot of the

Ilocano people The Ilocano people (), also referred to as Ilokáno, Iloko, Iloco, Iluku, or Samtoy, are an Austronesian peoples, Austronesian ethnolinguistic group native to the Philippines. Originally from the Ilocos Region, located on the northwestern coa ...

and Kalinga people. They were usually made of rattan and nito, or from light wood. They were either shaped like a dome or a gently sloping cone. *Kattukong – also known as katukong, tukong, or tabungaw, are the salakot of the Ilocano and Tinguian people, usually made from dried gourd reinforced with nito woven at the rim. *Sadók or Sarók – refers to the different salakot designs of the Visayan, Bikolano, and Mandaya people. **Visayan Sarók – Also known as takokong in Sialo-dialect Cebuano. Features a lightweight and ornamented design. It is made of woven stalks from the nito plant (''

Lygodium ''Lygodium'' (climbing fern) is a genus of about 40 species of ferns, native to tropical regions across the world, with a few temperate species in eastern Asia and eastern North America. It is the sole genus in the family Lygodiaceae in the Pte ...

'' spp.) and/or dried leaves or bamboo, creating a patterned net-like structure, with a signature six-petal flower design made from lighter leaves or thin bamboo wood plates secured at the very top of the hat. **Bicolano Sadók – This salakot is made from anahaw leaves and bamboo and either features a pointed shape resembling Mt Mayon, or a rounded shape with an inner attached hat fitted around the wearer's head. This is also the style of salakot worn in Leyte and Sorsogon. **Mandaya Sadók – The Mandaya sadok is uniquely elongated from front to back, and are often decorated with feathers, tassels, and beads. *Saro – are the salakot of the Tausug people *Sarúk – are the salakot of the Yakan and

Sama-Bajau people The Sama-Bajau include several Austronesian people, Austronesian ethnic groups of Maritime Southeast Asia. The name collectively refers to related people who usually call themselves the Sama or Samah (formally A'a Sama, "Sama people"); or are ...

made from plaited rattan, nito and cotton. The Yakan version is characteristically dome-shaped with a wide crown. Both men and women can wear the saruk. Among men, they are worn over the traditional ''pis syabit'' headscarves. *Sayap – are the salakot of the Maguindanao people. They are made from

twill Twill is a type of textile Textile is an Hyponymy and hypernymy, umbrella term that includes various Fiber, fiber-based materials, including fibers, yarns, Staple (textiles)#Filament fiber, filaments, Thread (yarn), threads, and d ...

ed bamboo, nito, or pandan leaves. They also known as binalano, tapisan, talakudong, or kudong. It is celebrated in the Talakudong Festival of Tacurong City (which is named after it). *S'laong – are the salakot of T'boli people. They are gender-specific. Men wore the shallow conical ''s'laong naf'', made from bamboo and rattan with geometric black-and-white designs. Women wore the wide-brimmed ''s'laong kinibang'' which was made from bamboo covered with a cloth lining that distinctively hang down the sides and back, usually decorated with bead fringes. File:T'nalak Festival 2015 Koronadal City, South Cotabato (10).jpg, The cloth-covered ''s'laong kinibang'' of T'boli women File:Hat, Mindanao, Mandaya, palm, bamboo, feathers, cotton, fiber and beads, Honolulu.jpg, The uniquely shaped ''sadok'' of the Mandaya people of southeastern

Mindanao Mindanao ( ) is the List of islands of the Philippines, second-largest island in the Philippines, after Luzon, and List of islands by population, seventh-most populous island in the world. Located in the southern region of the archipelago, the ...

File:Ivatan Woman.png, Ivatan woman wearing the ''vakul'' File:Kattukong San Quintin Abra Teofilo GarciaB.jpg, Ilocano ''kattukong'' gourd hat File:National Museum of Ethnology, Osaka - Woven hat - Visayan Islands in Republic of the Philippines.jpg, Visayan , made from woven nito fern

History

Salakot is part of the pre-colonial culture of the Philippines. The earliest record of salakot was in 1521 when

Antonio Pigafetta Antonio Pigafetta (; – c. 1531) was a Venetian scholar and explorer. In 1519, he joined the Spanish expedition to the Spice Islands led by Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan, the world's first Magellan's circumnavigation, circumnavigation, ...

Ferdinand Magellan Ferdinand Magellan ( – 27 April 1521) was a Portuguese explorer best known for having planned and led the 1519–22 Spanish expedition to the East Indies. During this expedition, he also discovered the Strait of Magellan, allowing his fl ...

's expedition described a "queen who wore a large hat of palm leaves in the manner of parasol, with a crown about it of the same leaves like the tiara of the pope; and she never goes any place without such one." During the 19th century in the Spanish colonial era, the salakot were worn as status symbols by members of the aristocratic class (the ''

Principalía The ''principalía'' or Nobility, noble class was the ruling and usually educated upper class in the ''Municipality, pueblos'' of History of the Philippines (1521–1898), Spanish Philippines, comprising the ''gobernadorcillo'' (later called t ...

'') as part of the

barong tagalog The barong tagalog, more commonly known simply as barong (and occasionally baro), is an Embroidery, embroidered long-sleeved formal shirt for men and a national dress of the Fashion and clothing in the Philippines, Philippines. Barong tagalog ...

ensemble. These Spanish-era salakot were made from prized materials like tortoiseshell and elaborately decorated with gems and precious metals like silver,Manuel Buzeta y Felipe Bravo, ''Diccionario geografico, estadistico, historico de las Islas Filipinas'', Charleston, South Carolina: 2011, Nabu Press, Vol. I, p. 241. or, at times, gold.Laureano, Felix, ed. (1895). ''Recuerdos de Filipinas: Libro-Album'' (book) (in Español). Volumen Primero. Barcelona: A. Lopez Robert, p. 26. They also commonly had long ornate spikes tipped with horsehair, or have coins or pendants that hung around the rim.Roces, Alfredo Reyes; Cordero-Fernando, Gilda; Quirino, Carlos & Guttierez, Manuel C, eds. (1977). ''Filipino Heritage: the Making of a Nation'' (10 vols). Manila: Lahing Pilipino Pub. . OCLC 6088188. 1328526, Vol. 4, pp. 1106–1107. Many depictions of ''

gobernadorcillo The (, literally "little governor") was a municipal judge or governor in the Captaincy General of the Philippines, Philippines during the History of the Philippines (1565–1898), Spanish colonial period, who carried out in a town the combined ...

s'' and '' cabezas de barangay'' would portray these colonial public functionaries as wearing ornate salakot.Alfredo R. Roces, et al., eds., ''Ethnic Headgear'' in ''Filipino Heritage: The Making of a Nation'', Philippines: Lahing Pilipino Publishing, Inc., 1977, Vol. VI, pp. 1106-1107.

Pith helmets

Salakot were also widely used as military sun hats in the colonial-era Philippines by both native and Spanish troops in the

Spanish Army The Spanish Army () is the terrestrial army of the Spanish Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is one of the oldest Standing army, active armies – dating back to the late 15th century. The Spanish Army has existed ...

and the Guardia Civil (where they were known as ''salacot''). They were commonly cloth-covered. This was copied first by the French colonial troops in

Indochina Mainland Southeast Asia (historically known as Indochina and the Indochinese Peninsula) is the continental portion of Southeast Asia. It lies east of the Indian subcontinent and south of Mainland China and is bordered by the Indian Ocean to th ...

who called it the ''salacco''.

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

and Dutch troops in nearby regions followed suit and the salakot became a common headgear for colonial forces in the mid-19th century. The salakot was most widely adopted by the

British Empire The British Empire comprised the dominions, Crown colony, colonies, protectorates, League of Nations mandate, mandates, and other Dependent territory, territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom and its predecessor states. It bega ...

. They began experimenting with derivative designs in search of a lightweight hat for troops serving in tropical regions. This led to a succession of designs ultimately resulting in the "Colonial pattern"

. French marines also introduced the early version of the ''salacco'' to the

French Antilles The French West Indies or French Antilles (, ; ) are the parts of France located in the Antilles islands of the Caribbean: * The two Overseas department and region of France, overseas departments of: ** Guadeloupe, including the islands of Bass ...

, where it became the '' salako.''

Cultural significance

The salakot is a common symbol for Filipino identity, often worn by the

National personification A national personification is an anthropomorphic personification of a state or the people(s) it inhabits. It may appear in political cartoons and propaganda. In the first personifications in the Western World, warrior deities or figures symboliz ...

Juan dela Cruz Juan dela Cruz or Maria dela Cruz (feminized form) is the national personification of the Philippines, often used to represent the " Filipino everyman". He is usually depicted wearing the native '' salakot'' hat, barong tagalog, long pants, ...

along with a

. The kattukung made from bottle gourd is also commonly associated with the 18th-century Ilocano revolutionary leader Diego Silang. In 2012, Teofilo Garcia of Abra in

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 ...

, expert artisan of a special kind of ''salakot'' made of

(''Lagenaria siceraria'') was awarded by the

National Commission for Culture and the Arts The National Commission for Culture and the Arts of the Philippines (NCCA; , ) is the official government agency for culture in the Philippines. It is the overall policy making body, coordinating, and grants giving agency for the preservation, d ...

with the ''"Gawad sa Manlilikha ng Bayan"'' (National Living Treasures Award) for his dedication to the traditional craft of making gourd salakot, affirming the status of the salakot as one of the intangible cultural heritage of the Philippines under the traditional craftsmanship category.

Gallery

File:Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas Money Museum salakot display.jpg, Salakot displayed in the

Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (; commonly abbreviated as BSP in both Filipino and English) is the central bank of the Philippines. It was established on January 3, 1949, and then re-established on July 3, 1993 pursuant to the provision of Re ...

Money Museum File:Ilocos Indians.jpg, Illustration of an Ilocano man and woman. The man is wearing a ''kattukong''. c.1820 File:El pescador de Sacag (Félix Resurrección Hidalgo).jpg, ''El pescador de Sacag'', a painting of a fisherman with a salakot by

Félix Resurrección Hidalgo Félix Resurrección Hidalgo y Padilla (February 21, 1855 – March 13, 1913) was a Filipino artist. He is acknowledged as one of the greatest Filipino painters of the late 19th century, and is significant in Philippine history for having bee ...

, c.1875 File:Silver-inlaid tortoiseshell salakot.jpg, Tortoiseshell salakot with inlaid silver in the Villa Escudero Museum File:Filipino Peasant with coat & salacot Tipos del País by Justiniano Asuncion.jpg, A Filipino peasant with a salakot and traditional raincoat, by Justiniano Asuncion, c.1841 File:Salakots and women's hats (1900).jpg, Various types of salakot from the Philippines, c.1900. The inner headband is visible on the middle right salakot. File:Three Moro women in Jolo, Sulu.jpg, Three

Sama-Bajau The Sama-Bajau include several Austronesian ethnic groups of Maritime Southeast Asia. The name collectively refers to related people who usually call themselves the Sama or Samah (formally A'a Sama, "Sama people"); or are known by the exonym ...

women from Jolo, Sulu wearing ''saruk'', c.1900 File:Parangal Dance Co. performing Jota Manileña at 14th AF-AFC 03.JPG, Dancers performing ''Jota Manileña'', the man is wearing a

with a salakot File:Cuadrillero by José Honorato Lozano.jpg, ''Cuadrillero'' by José Honorato Lozano, depicting a 'cuadrillero' or village police (local deputies or constables) in a salakot with a horsehair plume, c.1847 File:Gabriela Silang 1974 stamp of the Philippines.jpg, Revolutionary leader Gabriela Silang shown wearing a ''salakot'' in a 1974

postage stamp A postage stamp is a small piece of paper issued by a post office, postal administration, or other authorized vendors to customers who pay postage (the cost involved in moving, insuring, or registering mail). Then the stamp is affixed to the f ...

File:La Yndia del Campo tiendera by Justiniano Asuncion.jpg, ''La Yndia del Campo Tiendera'' by Justiniano Asuncion File:Filipina Salakot farmer.jpg, Salakot worn by a woman harvesting rice

References

External links

* {{Headgear Filipino nobility Philippine handicrafts Philippine headgear Pointed hats