Head scarf facts for kids
Headscarves are pieces of cloth worn on the head. They cover most or all of a person's hair. People wear headscarves for many reasons. Some wear them to stay warm or keep their hair clean. Others wear them for fashion or as part of their culture. Headscarves can also be important in religious practices. They might be worn for modesty, to show respect, or to cover hair loss.
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Headscarves and Religion
Headscarves are often worn for religious reasons. For example, many married Orthodox Jewish women cover their hair. They often use scarves or sometimes wigs for this purpose.
In the Middle Ages, married Christian women in Europe also wore headscarves. Sometimes, even unmarried women wore them. This type of head covering was called a wimple.
In Islam, women and teenage girls are asked to dress in a modest way. This often includes wearing a headscarf. Some specific types of headscarves and veils worn by Muslim women include:
The Arabic word hijab means modest behavior in general. It applies to both men and women. However, in other languages, hijab is often used to mean the Muslim headscarf. This scarf is also known as a khimar.
Headscarves Around the World
Headscarves are worn in many different cultures and countries.
Eastern Europe
In Eastern Europe, headscarves are often worn by older women. Some English speakers use the word "babushka" for a headscarf tied under the chin. This word means "grandmother" in Russian. In Russia, women often wear headscarves when they go to church. This shows their faith in the Russian Orthodox Church.
During the Russian Revolution and civil war, female commissars and other women who supported Bolshevism wore a plain red or scarlet headscarf.
Africa
A head tie is a special type of headscarf worn by women in West and Southern Africa. These head ties are often very fancy and decorative.
Ancient Egypt
In ancient Egypt, men also wore head coverings. For example, ancient Egyptian men wore a Nemes headcloth. This was a striped cloth that covered the head and shoulders.
Gallery of Headscarves
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A scarf worn as part of a Norwegian national costume.
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A Portuguese soccer fan wears a kerchief as a bandana and to show her team loyalty.
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A woman wearing a traditional headscarf in the 'babooska' style, in Kalkan, Turkey.
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Women from Jaipur, India wearing Salwar kameez and dupatta.
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A Romanian woman in traditional dress.
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A Mpondo woman from South Africa.
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South African singer Dana Wien in a headscarf.
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Women from Gambia in their traditional head ties.
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Russian girls in their traditional headscarves.
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A Bashkirian woman in traditional costume, photographed by Sergey Prokudin-Gorsky.
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A person wearing a headscarf after losing hair due to Chemotherapy.
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Scarved Moshka girls in traditional costumes.
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Scarved Komi girls in traditional costumes. Like people in Russia, Bashkiria, and Moshka, they need to keep their heads warm in winter.
More About Head Coverings
Images for kids
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Women's headscarves for sale in Damascus.
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In Christian cultures, nuns cover their body and hair. Here is a 16th-century wimple, worn by Queen Anna of Poland, with a veil and a ruff around the neck.
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Elizabeth II wearing a headscarf with Ronald Reagan, 1982.
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Hutterite Anabaptist Christian women wearing headscarves.
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A Christian woman in Russia wearing a shawl while reading the Bible.
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Brookside Mill workers in Knoxville, Tennessee, USA, photographed by Lewis Wickes Hine in 1910.
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Armenians picking cotton in the 1930s.
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A clerk working for Alitalia wears a headscarf in 1970.
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School girls in Herat, Afghanistan.
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Oil on canvas painting by Vittore Ghislandi, called Fra Galgario.
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During a Tridentine Mass, women often wear a headcovering when receiving Communion.
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A woman selling flowers in Egypt, 1906.
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Girls dressed up for a parade wear matching yellow headscarves in New Orleans, Louisiana, 2009.
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Woman with a headscarf in Gambia.
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Egypt, 1935.
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A headscarf worn by a chef in Los Angeles, 2007.
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Three Turkish women wearing headscarves, 2003.
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Laughing woman in Kuala Lumpur wearing a blue headscarf, 2008.
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A Malaysian girl wearing a headscarf, 2010.
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Women in typical dress and headscarf in Nazaré, Portugal, 2006.
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Salvadoran women wear special regional veils for national celebrations.
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A young Somali woman in a traditional headscarf.
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A Chinese man with a headscarf as part of his fashion costume.
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The Molokans are a religious group of Russian peasants who separated from the Russian Orthodox Church in the 1550s.
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An early 19th-century Russian silk embroidered headscarf.
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