Riyadh Travel Forum

Greetings,
I am wondering if there is a "meaning" or significance to the different colours of the SHOMAGH? I have seen many red and white or black and white ones but an acquaintance of mine told me that different colours denote associations with different groups, families, tribes or other organisations. She said that blue and white ones meant the man was a Christian. Can you shed some light on this?
Thank you,
Ute

You might check this Wikipedia article and look for "color" - see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Keffiyeh

Bill

Thanks for the reply. Actually I had seen that Wikipedia site but it is really very generalized, and broad in its scope. I was hoping to get a little more into detail. Thanks you again.
Ute

This is what I know, but for sure the locals could give a better and solid info:

It is not associated with groups nor family nor organizations, it is in fact based on national traditions. The red & white checked is called "shmag" though there is an all-white shmag too.

Shmag & ghutra are both widely worn around the arabian pensinsula, particularly KSA, UAE, Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar, etc.

The white plain one without the checkered design is called "ghutra" and older Jeddahn's (for the local residents of Jeddah, the commercial hub of Saudi Arabia) prefer this due to it's lightness and simplicity and comfortable during the summer heat, and nowadays it comes in nice and expensive fabrics, and popular with local executives. Though the red&white shmag is also widely used, and there's no difference or association in that.

Most locals in Riyadh prefer the red&white shmag, it's a bit heavy and thicker compared to ghutra aptly for the cold temperature of Riyadh during the winter.

The black&white shmag is for the Palestinians, Iraqis also wear the same.

But with the blue&white and its association with being "former-christian thing"? hmmmm....Never heard of it.

The headress colour & style is more of a traditional, cultural, national & regional pride.

Hi. I am Saudi and this is my input. Here in KSA we were two types. The all white (Ghutra) and the Red and White (Shimagh). The Red one is the most common and wore in every day life. The white one tends to be more formal or for those who wants to rank themselves higher than the others; i.e. wealthy, well educated, or hold high positions. The White one tends to be cheaper but needs much more care and cannot be wore more than a day without the need to rewashing and re-ironing it. The red one varies in the price area, but takes less care. The Black and White is for Palestinians.