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A kerchief (from the Old French couvre-chef, "cover head"), also known as a bandana or bandanna, is a triangular or square piece of cloth tied around the Human head, face, or neck for protective or decorative purposes. The popularity of head kerchiefs may vary by culture or religion, often being used as a Christian headcovering by men and women of the Anabaptist, Eastern Orthodox, and Plymouth Brethren denominations, (2013). 9780857853639, Bloomsbury Publishing. ISBN 9780857853639 as well as by some Orthodox Judaism and Muslim men and women and is also considered a hat.
The neckerchief and handkerchief are related items.
The word bandana stems from the Hindi words 'bāndhnū', or "tie-dyeing", and 'bāndhnā', "to tie". These stem from Sanskrit roots 'badhnāti', "he ties", and Sanskrit 'bandhana' (बन्धन), "a bond". In the 18th and 19th centuries bandanas were frequently known as bandannoes.Yule and Burnell (2013), "Bandanna", p.78.
Bandanas originated in India as bright-coloured handkerchiefs of silk and cotton with spots in white on coloured grounds, chiefly red and blue Bandhani. The silk styles were made of the finest-quality yarns and were popular. Bandana prints for clothing were first produced in Glasgow from cotton yarns, and are now made in many qualities. The term, at present, generally means a fabric in printed styles, whether silk, silk and cotton, or all cotton.
The bandana found popularity in the US during the late 1700s because snuff users preferred coloured and patterned silk handkerchiefs over white ones, as the former hid tobacco stains better when the users blew their noses. In the late 18th and early 19th centuries, bandanas began to appear with political and military advertisements printed on them. Such printed bandanas were common in the early and mid-1900s during World War I and World War II. Decorative bandanas were also common gear, particularly as neckwear, for , and so for country and western entertainers such as Roy Rogers and, later, Willie Nelson. The latter singer began wearing bandanas when he moved from Nashville back to Austin, Texas, "just in time to catch the hippie wave cresting at counterculture center the Armadillo World Headquarters".
Around the same time, bandanas also became popular with motorcyclists, particularly with Harley-Davidson and Motorcycling. In the 1970s paisley bandanas also became popular amongst gangs in California, most notably with two well-known rival gangs, the Bloods, who wore red bandanas, and the Crips, who wore blue ones.
Green bandanas have become a symbol of the abortion-rights movement.
As well it was widely used by men at horse riding in summertime instead of wearing a cap (cf. bandana of motorcycling).
Other headwear
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