The Keffiyeh: Meaning, Pattern, Colors and How to Wear It

Yasser Arafat, who wore the black and white keffiyeh in public for decades.

The keffiyeh is a square cotton scarf with a woven pattern, worn across the Middle East for centuries and known worldwide as a symbol of Palestine. It is pronounced keh-FEE-yeh (also spelled kufiya or kuffiyeh, and called a hatta in Palestine). The black and white Palestinian keffiyeh carries three patterns that people read as the fishing net, the olive leaf and the trade routes of historic Palestine. This guide covers what the keffiyeh means, what the colors stand for, where it came from, how it differs from a shemagh, how to wear and tie it, and how to tell one that was made in Palestine.

What is a keffiyeh?

A keffiyeh is a large square of woven cotton, usually about 110 to 120 cm on each side, folded into a triangle and worn on the head or around the neck and shoulders. The word comes from Kufa in Iraq, where the cloth is said to have been made, though the garment is far older than any one town. Farmers and Bedouin across the Levant and Arabia wore it for the same reasons people still do in the sun: it shades the head, keeps dust out of the mouth, and doubles as a bag, a sling or a blanket.

The Palestinian version is black and white. Red and white versions are common in Jordan and the Gulf, and the plain white head cloth of the Gulf states is a ghutra. All of them belong to the same family of head coverings.

An Arab man photographed in the late 1800s wearing a keffiyeh.

What the keffiyeh pattern means

The Palestinian keffiyeh has three distinct woven elements, and a widely shared reading gives each one a meaning. These readings are tradition and popular interpretation rather than a documented code, but they are how most Palestinians and most sellers describe the cloth today.

• The fishnet: the broad field of interlocking shapes across the center is read as a fishing net, standing for the Mediterranean coast, the fishermen of Gaza, Jaffa and Acre, and the sea.
• The olive leaves: the chain of leaf shapes along the border is read as the olive tree, the crop that defined Palestinian farming and still stands for rootedness in the land.
• The bold lines: the thick black lines running along the edges are read as the trade routes that crossed Palestine, and as the roads that connected its towns.

Hand-tied tassels along two edges are a sign of a traditionally finished keffiyeh. Modern printed imitations usually skip them.

Black and white, red and white, and other colors

Color is the most asked-about detail of the keffiyeh, and the honest answer is that color mostly follows region and habit rather than a fixed rule.

• Black and white is the Palestinian keffiyeh. It became the national emblem through the 1936 revolt and later through Yasser Arafat, who wore it for decades.
• Red and white is the common keffiyeh of Jordan, Saudi Arabia and much of the Gulf, where it is usually called a shemagh. In Palestine the red and white cloth is also worn, and you will hear the folk explanation that it marks left-wing factions while black and white marks Fatah. Treat that as a loose association, not a rule: plenty of Palestinians wear either color with no political meaning at all.
• Other colors are modern fashion. Green, blue, pink and the colors of the Palestinian flag woven into the border all appeared in the 2000s, and the Hirbawi factory in Hebron now weaves dozens of colorways.

A short history of the keffiyeh

For most of its history the keffiyeh was working dress. In Palestine it marked a villager or a Bedouin, while townspeople wore the red felt tarboush. That changed during the Arab Revolt of 1936 to 1939 against British rule, when rebels from the countryside wore the keffiyeh and British forces used it to identify them. Townsmen across Palestine put on the keffiyeh in solidarity so that the fighters could not be singled out, and the cloth became national rather than rural.

In the 1960s Yasser Arafat made the black and white keffiyeh his signature, folding it so that the drape over his shoulder recalled the shape of historic Palestine. Leila Khaled's photographs from the same period put the keffiyeh on a woman and made it an image of resistance for a generation. From the 2000s the pattern crossed into Western fashion, which started a long argument about meaning and appropriation. Since 2023 the keffiyeh has been worn at protests in cities around the world, and in some places banned from schools, parliaments and sports grounds, which has made it a louder symbol than ever.

Keffiyeh vs shemagh vs ghutra

These are cousins, not rivals. The keffiyeh is the general term and the Palestinian name for the patterned cloth. A shemagh is the same kind of square scarf as worn in Jordan, Iraq and the Gulf, most often red and white. A ghutra is the plain white cloth of the Gulf states, held in place by the black cord called an agal. Military and outdoor shops sell "shemaghs" in olive and tan, which are the same shape with no cultural pattern. If someone asks about a "keffiyeh or shemagh", the difference they usually mean is Palestinian black and white versus Jordanian or Gulf red and white.

How to wear a keffiyeh

There is no wrong way, but these are the three most common.

Around the neck

1. Fold the square in half diagonally to make a triangle.
2. Hold the long edge against the back of your neck with the point hanging down your chest.
3. Bring both ends forward over your shoulders, cross them under your chin and throw each end back over the opposite shoulder. Adjust so the point sits flat in front.

As a head wrap

1. Fold into a triangle and place the long edge across your forehead, with the point hanging down your back.
2. Take the two ends behind your head, cross them, and bring them round to the front.
3. Tie or tuck the ends at the side, or let them hang. In the Gulf style an agal cord holds the cloth in place instead of a knot.

Over one shoulder

Fold into a triangle, then fold the triangle in half again so you have a long band. Lay it over one shoulder with the ends hanging front and back. This is the drape associated with Arafat and with marches.

Can anyone wear a keffiyeh?

Yes, and many Palestinians say they welcome it. The keffiyeh has been worn by people of every background across the region for centuries, and today wearing it is widely understood as a statement of solidarity. What draws criticism is wearing it as a fashion item while treating its meaning as inconvenient, or buying a mass-produced copy when a cloth woven in Palestine can be ordered directly from Hebron. If you wear one, know what it signals, and expect that in some settings it will be read politically.

How to tell a keffiyeh made in Palestine

Almost all keffiyehs sold worldwide are made in China or India. The one factory still weaving them in Palestine is Hirbawi in Hebron, founded in 1961 and run by the Hirbawi family. A Hirbawi keffiyeh is heavier than a printed copy, the pattern is woven rather than printed so it is identical on both sides, the tassels are tied by hand, and the cloth carries the factory label. Prices are higher and stock runs out quickly during news events. If "made in Palestine" matters to you, buy from Hirbawi or from a shop that names its source.

Keffiyeh-pattern pieces we make

Native Threads does not sell keffiyeh scarves; for those, Hirbawi is the place. What we make is accessories that carry the pattern: the Palestinian keffiyeh headband, the keffiyeh bandana, the keffiyeh scrunchie, a keffiyeh neck gaiter, the watermelon keffiyeh iPhone case, a keffiyeh backpack and a keffiyeh tote. They are all in the Palestine accessories collection.

Our Palestine FC concept jersey carries the keffiyeh pattern on the shoulders.

Frequently asked questions

What does a keffiyeh symbolize?

Palestinian identity and solidarity with Palestine. Its patterns are traditionally read as the fishing net, the olive leaf and the trade routes of historic Palestine.

How do you pronounce keffiyeh?

Keh-FEE-yeh, with the stress on the middle syllable. Kufiya is pronounced koo-FEE-ya. In Palestine you will also hear hatta.

What is the difference between a keffiyeh and a shemagh?

Same shape, different name and region. Keffiyeh is the Palestinian and general term, usually black and white; shemagh is the Jordanian and Gulf term, usually red and white.

What do the colors of a keffiyeh mean?

Black and white is Palestinian; red and white is Jordanian and Gulf. The association of red with left-wing factions and black with Fatah is loose, and most wearers choose by habit or look.

How do you wear a keffiyeh around your neck?

Fold it into a triangle, hold the long edge at the back of your neck with the point in front, cross the ends under your chin and throw them back over your shoulders.

Is it disrespectful to wear a keffiyeh?

Not in itself. Wear it knowing what it means, and prefer one made in Palestine or bought from a source that supports Palestinians.

Related reading: the colors and meaning of the Palestinian flag and the Palestinian thobe and traditional clothing.