Êzîdî Traditional Dress + Clothing: Symbols, Occasions, Taboos

Êzîdî traditional dress carries theological, social and genealogical codes. Colour, cut and ornament signal caste (Şêx/Pîr/Mirîd), occasion (wedding/mourning), region (Sinjar vs Aparan) and religious status.

Status: 2026-06-16 · Sirr taboo observed · ezdixan.de Wiki

Overview: Clothing as Lived Theology

Among the Êzîdî, clothing is not mere material but a worn confession of faith. One historical detail makes this clear: when the Êzîdî petitioned the Ottoman Empire in 1872 for exemption from military service, one of their arguments was that they must wear a special religious undershirt that may not be made by non-Êzîdî: military service would have forced them to violate this commandment [Açıkyıldız 2010; Spät 2018]. Clothing is thus part of ritual purity and of the community’s demarcation (→ reinheit-tabus).

Êzîdî and general Kurdish dress share many basic forms (Kras/Kiras, Şal û Şepik, woollen belt), yet the Êzîdî have overlaid additional religious codes: sacred colours, the blue taboo, consecrated garments of the clergy and sacral cords. In the 20th century Kurdish dress was also heavily politicised: in 1945 Turkey banned the Şal-û-Şepik dress as the “Kurdish national costume” together with the language and the colours red/green/yellow; since then dress has also been a sign of identity and resistance [GfbV 2021]. For the Êzîdî the religious dimension is added, which distinguishes this dress from the purely ethnic-Kurdish one (→ traditionen).

1. Colour Code: Sacred, Avoided, Taboo

Êzîdî woman in traditional Bashiqa dress, Iraq. White (Spî) is considered sacred (purity, Lalîş clergy), red is linked to Sultan Êzî, blue is avoided in the sacral context. · Licence: CC BY-SA 4.0 · Source: Wikimedia Commons

White (Spî): sacred

Meaning: Purity, light, reference to Tawûsî Melek, the parchment of Lalîş manuscripts. The Şêx and Pîr lineages wear the white robe as a religious robe of dignity. The old Êzîdî flag was entirely white with a yellow sun, before it was supplemented after the genocides with the red martyr stripe [flagge-symbole.md].

• Obligatory: on the Lalîş pilgrimage all Êzîdî wear white
• Şêx dress wholly white
• Bridal gown traditionally white (regionally variable)

[Açıkyıldız 2010, pp. 161-167; Kreyenbroek 1995, pp. 144-148]

Red (Sor): wedding + martyrdom

Meaning: Life-blood, wedding joy and mourning for the genocide victims. The current Êzîdî flag shows a central red stripe for the ~74 Fermane.

• Wedding ribbons, bridal red ornament
• Sersal: red-dyed eggs
• Laments on 3 August (Sinjar 2014): red candle + red cloth

[Açıkyıldız 2010, pp. 167-170; Spät 2018, p. 168]

Black (Reş): mourning, Qewal, Sancak

Meaning: Mourning (Cilê Reş = mourning dress, 40 days after a death). Bronze Sancak have a dark-black patina. Çarşema Reş (Black Wednesday before Sersal) has its own quiet dress.

• Mourning dress for 40 days
• Qewal shoulder cloth
• Widow’s/widower’s period of stillness

Green (Kesk): avoided

Meaning: On the Kurdish flag green is the symbol of the Islamic layer. The Êzîdî consistently avoid green in religious dress, historically green marked Muslim-affiliated identity in Mesopotamia. In neutral everyday garments outside religious contexts, however, green is today increasingly tolerated (especially in the diaspora). [see flagge-symbole.md on the flag question; Kreyenbroek 2017]

Blue (Şîn): TABOO

Meaning: Strict taboo in the Êzîdî tradition. Several explanations:

1. Tawûsî Melek’s neck/tail feathers are blue, as a reflection of his cosmic dignity, no human may raise himself “above him” by using the same colour.
2. Blue has an association with the pre-cosmic water element (Tofan/Flood).
3. Êzîdî wear no blue clothing, paint no blue walls in religious spaces, avoid blue jewellery.
4. Violations of the blue taboo count as grave ritual offences (Bilêvkirin → possible excommunication in historical severity).

The blue taboo is one of the best-known food and conduct taboos of the Êzîdî and is regularly named in the literature alongside the lettuce/bean prohibition and the taboo of the word “Şeyt…”. It concerns not only clothing in the narrower sense, but the entire sacral living space: door frames, prayer rooms and festive dress remain blue-free. In the diaspora the taboo is handled with varying strictness, religious families and clergy continue to avoid blue consistently, while in the secular everyday clothing of younger generations it softens. The entry → reinheit-tabus treats it in detail.

[Kreyenbroek 1995, p. 145; Spät 2018, pp. 170-172; Rodziewicz 2018]

Yellow (Zer): sun, Tawûsî Melek

Meaning: Sun, light symbol of Tawûsî Melek, in the flag the central sun disc.

Multicoloured (geometric embroidery)

Meaning: Zest for life, prosperity. Festive dress, bridal trousseau. Peacock motifs + sun motifs frequent.

2. Men’s Dress

Êzîdî man in traditional dress (historical depiction). Characteristic: white shirt (kiras), wide black or beige trouser-skirt (şal û şepik), headscarf (destmal) and belt sash (peştik). · Licence: Public Domain · Source: Wikimedia Commons

2.1 Mêran Lebs / Şal û Şepik

Classic men’s suit, in several parts:

• Şal: wrap trousers, wide, from ankle to hip
• Şepik: short jacket / waistcoat
• Hêmiz: long shirt under the jacket
• Pişt / Pêştik: woollen belt (often 4-5 m long, wrapped several times)
• Kalpak / Kelaq: flat men’s cap, locally variable
• Kefîye / Cemedanî (Cemedanî): headgear, knotted (regionally: white, black, red-white)

Material: traditionally wool (Sinjar), cotton (Sheikhan), in the diaspora often modern fabrics.

The religious “closed-collar” code: Êzîdî men were historically recognisable by the fact that the shirt was worn closed up to the neck: this is religiously prescribed and not a fashion detail. To this were added white trousers, a coat and hair under a turban whose colour marked rank in the clergy (white for Şêx/Pîr dignitaries, black for the Feqîr). The 1872 military-service dispute mentioned above turned precisely on this religiously regulated clothing [Açıkyıldız 2010; Spät 2018; Yezidis International, “Clothes”].

Şal û Şepik as a political sign: Beyond its religious meaning, the dress became a symbol of identity in the 20th century. In 1945 Turkey banned it as the “Kurdish national costume”; since then Kurdish fighters and, in the diaspora, young people wear the Şal û Şepik deliberately as a confession, today often combined with modern fashion (sneakers, designer accessories) [GfbV 2021].

Material: traditionally wool (Sinjar), cotton (Sheikhan), in the diaspora often modern fabrics.

[Açıkyıldız 2010, p. 162; Düchting 2021 on diaspora fashion; GfbV 2021]

2.2 Şêx Dress (religious dignitaries)

Completely white, with:

• Cubbe (long white coat)
• Sertok / Şewar (white headgear)
• Pişt-Spî (white belt)
• For the highest dignities: additionally a Mîrkof (coat attachment)

2.3 Pîr Dress

Similar to Şêx, often with a darker woollen belt for distinction.

2.4 Qewal Dress

• Black and white
• Black shoulder cloth
• Signifies: bearer of the sacred hymns

2.5 Mîr Dress (Êzîdî Prince)

• Richer than Şêx, with a Cubbe embroidered in gold thread
• Special headgear (regionally variable, historically documented)
• Courtly gold/silver ornament

[Sources 2.x: Açıkyıldız 2010, ch. 6; Spät 2018, pp. 165-175; Yezidi Cultural Heritage Project Duhok 2019]

2A. Religious Garments + Sacral Insignia

These consecrated textiles belong closely with the Êzîdî clergy; for the castes and offices in detail → geistlichkeit and → gesellschaftsordnung.

Besides everyday and festive dress, the Êzîdî tradition knows its own class of consecrated garments that may be put on only by certain religious bearers and only under ritual conditions. They are not “costumes” but holy objects with their own theology.

2A.1 The White Kiras (Cilê Spî): Garment of Purity

White (Spî) is the colour of purity and of light. The wholly white garment is the mark of the Şêx and Pîr lineages in religious service and is obligatory for all Êzîdî on the Lalîş pilgrimage. It connects with the parchment of the sacred manuscripts and with the self-understanding of stepping “pure” before Tawûsî Melek and the holy sites.

2A.2 Xirqe (Khirqe): the Sacred Black Garment of the Feqîr

The Xirqe is the black coat/black shirt of dark wool, worn by the Feqîr: the order of Êzîdî ascetics. It is one of the holiest garments of the tradition:

• Material + dyeing: dark wool, dyed black with a substance from the sacred Zerguz tree. To it belongs a black turban (likewise Zerguz-dyed).
• Symbolism: worn “in imitation of Şêx Adî”; tradition links the Xirqe with the primal garment of the first humans: the dress given to Adam and Eve. It is regarded with “deepest reverence” as the holiest garment.
• Origin of the term: Xirqe/Khirqe is originally a Sufi term (the coarse cloak of the mystics), a heritage of the Sufi influence on the Êzîdî, mediated through Şêx Adî ibn Misafir.
• Who may wear it: Originally the order was open to all but became hereditary. Not everyone born into a Feqîr family may don the black, only one who voluntarily chooses the ascetic path (strict fasting, abstinence from drinking/smoking, non-violence, service at Lalîş).

[Spät 2018, “Ritual Items of Clothing”; Kreyenbroek 1995; kurdish-history.com “The Feqir”]

2A.3 Insignia of the Dignitaries: Rista, Red Chest Belt, White Headgear

Higher clergy wear further consecrated insignia:

• Rista: a black belt/sash, likewise dyed black with the Zerguz substance.
• Red chest belt: worn diagonally across the chest.
• White headgear: sign of dignity.

This combination is mythologically founded: in Êzîdî tradition the angel Cibraîl (Jibrail) agreed to give Adam a soul, on condition that Adam be allowed to wear the red belt and the white headgear. The insignia thus go back to the ensoulment of the first human [Spät 2018; Yezidis International; kurdish-history.com].

2A.4 The Zerguz Tree as a Sacred Dyeing Source

The Zerguz is a sacred tree from which the black dyeing substance for Xirqe, black turban and Rista is obtained. The binding of the holiest black garments to a single, sacrally connoted plant underlines that these textiles must be produced ritually “pure”, analogous to the Êzîdî undershirt mentioned above, which no non-Êzîdî may make [Spät 2018; Açıkyıldız 2010].

2B. Sacred Cord: Şûtik / Toqa

Sacral material culture also includes a consecrated cord or consecrated necklace that keeps close contact with the body and is understood as a sign of protection and of binding to Lalîş and Tawûsî Melek:

• Şûtik: a woven/twisted woollen cord (related to the religious undershirt complex mentioned above), connected in tradition with the ritual purity of the Êzîdî. It stands in line with the black Rista belt of the clergy, but is the element that binds laypeople too to the community.
• Toqa (Toqe): a sacral necklace / neck cord that makes the religious binding visible.

Both are consecrated at Lalîş; the element of non-manufacturability by non-Êzîdî (see the 1872 military-service argument) makes clear that this is not jewellery but a religiously regulated purity textile. The exact inner meaning partly touches the Sirr and is not further elaborated here (→ reinheit-tabus).

[Açıkyıldız 2010; Spät 2018, “Ritual Items of Clothing”; Kreyenbroek 1995]

3. Women’s Dress

Êzîdî woman in traditional dress (historical depiction). Typical: a long white or colourful dress (kiras), headscarf (carşev / dêre), silver ornament, a sash around the hips. · Licence: Public Domain · Source: Wikimedia Commons

3.1 Kiras (Kras): Main Garment

• Long dress, ankle-length
• Long sleeves, often with elaborate embroidery
• Material: cotton, silk (wedding), wool (winter). A particularly prized, glossy fine fabric for the Kras is called Fendi (traditionally imported from India), it gives the festive dress its characteristic sheen.
• Cut regional: wider in Sinjar, narrower in Sheikhan
• Over the Kiras often a Çoxa / Elek (waistcoat) or Şal (shawl)

3.1a The Complete Women’s Wardrobe (Ensemble)

The Kras is only the core piece of a multi-part ensemble. Sources on Êzîdî/Kurdish women’s dress name among others:

• Kras: over-dress/shirt (the main piece)
• Hawalas / Awal-Kras: wide underpants/baggy trousers of firmer fabric
• Zher-Kras: a sheer underskirt/petticoat beneath the Kras
• Nadeera: skirt
• Elek: waistcoat/bodice over the Kras
• Salek: apron
• Dusang: arm cuffs/bracelets at the wrist
• Helak: short bolero jacket (for hot summers)
• Kofî: the headdress/cap (core piece of the headwear, see 3.2)
• Gore: knitted woollen stockings
• Leather shoes to finish

Several layers are thus combined: firm baggy trousers, sheer underskirt, glossy Kras, waistcoat and apron. This multipartite character is today preserved chiefly among older women; younger women wear the ensemble only at festivals [Yazidis.info “National Dress”; Yezidis International; GfbV 2021].

3.1b Colour Symbolism of Women’s Dress

The coloured elements of the festive dress are assigned in Êzîdî interpretation to the seven holy angels/“Hefte”: the colourful embroidery is thus not only ornament but a reference to the holy number seven. White remains the colour of purity, red the colour of joy and martyr’s blood, blue remains taboo (→ reinheit-tabus) [Rudaw 2023, Lalîş dress show].

3.2 Kofî / Hîvanî / Şeqe: Women’s Headgear

The headgear is the most elaborate and most strongly regionally differentiated element of women’s dress:

• Kofî: the actual headdress/cap, the base of the headwear; over it come cloths and forehead ornament. In scholarship the Kofî is considered the element from which region and marital status can be read most clearly.
• Hîvanî (“moon-shaped”), half-moon-like form, often embroidered with moon symbolism
• Şeqe: forehead band with hanging coins or cloths
• Carşev / Dêre: head/shoulder cloth laid over the Kofî
• Married women wear the cloth bound more tightly than the unmarried
• Widows wear the Şeqe in black

3.2a The Woman’s Belt (Kambar / Ben Pasta)

Historically Êzîdî women wore their own belt over skirt or dress:

• Kambar: wide women’s belt of cloth, often set with buttons and shells
• Ben Pasta: woollen belt, knitted with coloured woollen threads

These belts were widespread in the past and are today preserved chiefly in dress documentation and among older women [Yazidis.info “National Dress”].

3.3 Gold Ornament (Zêr)

The bride’s wedding trousseau, it is the personal property of the woman (in the event of divorce she keeps it), on the legal and social position of women see → frauen:

• Zincîr (necklace)
• Bazin (bangle)
• Guhar (earrings)
• Tîlî finger-ring
• Sersere: forehead ornament with hanging coins
• Pîl: nose ring (historically frequent, today rare)

The ornament tradition goes back to Assyrian + Persian models, particularly elaborate in Sinjar.

[Allison 2001, pp. 73-79; Bahzani.net dress database]

3.4 Şêx + Pîr Women

Female religious members wear the Cilê Spî in a modified form with a white Hîvanî.

3.5 Bridal Dress (Cilê Bûkê)

• Traditionally white or red with gold (regionally variable)
• Elaborate veil-dress (Pero) on the wedding day
• Henna hand decoration at the Şeva Henê (henna evening)
• Gold crown (Sersere) as the main ornament

4. Dress for Occasions

The occasions themselves are described in detail under → feste (Sersal, Cêjna Cemayîya, Çarşema Sor) and → lebenszyklus (wedding, birth, mourning).

Dress at the Sersal festival in Lalîş, 2017. Festive dress for New Year, wedding and pilgrimage to Lalîş is mostly white-coloured combined; in mourning dark colours dominate (black, dark brown). · Photo: Levi Clancy · Licence: CC BY-SA 4.0 · Source: Wikimedia Commons

Ritual cleansing of the dress: At the great dress show in Lalîş in 2023 (around 60 participants from 25 regions) it was documented that the garments were ritually cleansed before being put on: with water from the sacred spring Kaniya Spî (White Spring); the wearers additionally visited the Silat/Salat bridge for spiritual cleansing. Dress is thus itself an object of purity practice (→ reinheit-tabus) [Rudaw 2023].

Wedding (Dawet)

• Men: festive Şepik, white Şal, fresh Kefîye
• Women: colourful Kiras with embroidery, full gold ornament
• Bride: white-red with Pero veil
• Groom: white Şepik + red Pişt

Mourning (Şîn): 40 days

• All family members: black Cilê Reş
• Widow(er): additionally no ornament, no make-up
• Children under 7: exempt from the black obligation

Pilgrimage to Lalîş (Cêjna Cemayîya)

• Cilê Spî (white) obligatory for all
• Shoes are removed before entry (Lalîş is sacred ground)
• No blue ornament, no blue cloth: taboo

Feast Days (Sersal, Eyda Êzîd)

• The best dress unpacked
• Women: full gold ornament
• Men: fresh shirt, neatly bound Pişt

Everyday

• Tradition mix: the older generation still Şal û Şepik (especially Sinjar)
• Diaspora generation: predominantly Western clothing, traditional dress only for religious occasions

5. Deq: Traditional Tattoos

Woman from the Mount Ararat region (early 20th c.) with a traditional Deq tattoo. Note: the historically sensationalist title of the photograph comes from the West and is derogatory; we use the image only because of the rare Deq documentation. The deq tattoos were marks of protection and identity, chiefly among women. · Licence: Public Domain · Source: Wikimedia Commons

Deq are traditional women’s tattoos of the Êzîdî tradition (also widespread among the Kurdish neighbourhood):

What is tattooed?

• Forehead, cheeks, chin: protection against the evil eye (Çavê Xerab)
• Backs of the hands, inner sides of the fingers: identity, tribe
• Chest: love symbols for the spouse
• Ankle: moon-and-star symbols

Symbols

• Sun: Tawûsî Melek symbol
• Peacock (rare, sirr-sensitive)
• Gazelle, scorpion, snake: protective symbols
• Dots/circles: moon phases
• Geometric patterns: tribal affiliation

Today

• The Deq tradition has been strongly declining since the 1950s
• In Sinjar still found occasionally among older women (>60)
• Diaspora revival: young Êzîdî women have Deq-inspired tattoos done as a cultural confession
• Yazda + Free Yezidi Foundation continually document older Deq bearers

[Source: Açıkyıldız 2010, pp. 172-176; Yazda Cultural Heritage 2019; Free Yezidi Foundation “Deq Documentation Project” 2021-2024]

6. Material + Embroidery

Material historically

• Wool: Sinjar (cold mountains), Sheikhan winter
• Cotton: Sheikhan summer, lighter dress
• Silk: wedding clothing, Şêx lineages
• Linen: summer dress (less common)

Material today (diaspora)

• Industrial wool / polyester blend
• Real silk only for weddings
• Traditional fabrics often from heirloom pieces of the old generation

Embroidery motifs

• Roj (sun), reference to Tawûsî Melek
• Tawûs (peacock), sacred, on clothing only discreet (no direct image of the Sancak)
• Şêx Adî’s staff: symbolic, purely abstract
• Geometric borders: celestial bodies, four elements
• Hîv û Stêr (moon + stars), frequent on the women’s Hîvanî

[Düchting 2021 on diaspora fashion trends; Allison 2001 on embroidery]

7. Shoes

Classic

• Klaş / Gewra: hand-woven woollen shoes, chiefly the Sinjar mountain region
• Leather slip-on (Yemenî): for festive dress
• On the Lalîş pilgrimage: barefoot on the sacred ground

Today

• Diaspora: Western shoes
• Traditional Klaş still produced only by hand in Sinjar (a revival since 2014 as an identity marker)

8. Children’s Dress

Birth + Mor-Kirin (7-day initiation rite)

• White baby cloth
• Kerîv hand band (red-white-green, tied by the godfather, Kerîv = ritual godfather)

Çile (40-day protection after birth)

• Special children’s dress in family colours

Before puberty

• Girls: colourful Kiras + Şeqe
• Boys: mini Şal û Şepik

Puberty transition

• First “adult” item of dress (women: full Hîvanî; men: first Pişt)

[Spät 2018, pp. 175-180; Açıkyıldız 2010, pp. 178-182]

9. Regional Dress Variants

Êzîdî in Bashiqa, Iraq. Regional dress variants: Bashiqa and Şêxan (more white/colourful embroidery), Sinjar (rather dark tones), Armenia/Georgia (Russian-Ottoman influence), Turkey/Tur Abdin (simplified versions). · Licence: CC BY-SA 4.0 · Source: Wikimedia Commons

Sinjar (Şingal)

• Wide Şal û Şepik for men
• Colourful elaborate embroidery for women
• Gold ornament in abundance
• Klaş woollen shoes

Sheikhan / Lalîş region

• Narrower cut
• Less embroidery, more religious-symbolic purity
• Şêx + Pîr particularly strict in white

Bahzani / Behzane

• Qewal families resident here: Qewal dress (black-white) shapes the picture
• Moderate proportion of ornament

Armenia (Aparan, Yerevan)

• Soviet-Western touch, less embroidery
• Hîvanî with a coin tradition (Aparan specifics)
• Less gold ornament than in Sinjar

Diaspora Germany / Sweden

• Western everyday clothing, dress only for religious occasions
• The young generation increasingly proud of Deq-inspired tattoos + Cilê Spî for the Lalîş virtual pilgrimage

Diaspora USA (Lincoln, Nebraska)

• Similar to Europe, more Sinjar-traditional accents because many are Sinjar refugees

[Sources 9.x: Açıkyıldız 2010, pp. 173-189; Maisel 2017; Pîrbarî 2008 on Soviet Êzîdî]

10. Diaspora Change + Question of Identity

Êzîdî children at the Newroz camp, 2014. In the diaspora (chiefly Germany, Sweden, USA) the Êzîdî wear Western clothing in everyday life; dress is often worn only at festivals, weddings and the Lalîş pilgrimage, as an identity marker. · Photo: International Rescue Committee · Licence: CC BY 2.0 · Source: Wikimedia Commons

Dress has developed in the diaspora into a symbolic identity marker:

• 80% of Êzîdî worldwide today wear Western clothing in everyday life
• Dress is worn at weddings + religious festivals + the 3 August days of remembrance
• The young diaspora generation produces “Êzîdî brand hoodies”, T-shirts with sun/Tawûsî Melek symbols
• Êzdîxan TV and ÊzîdîPress continually document trends
• Hanover Êzîdî fashion labels have their own Sersal collections
• The Free Yezidi Foundation workshop programme trains young women in traditional embroidery (Sinjar reconstruction)

Preservation + Revival

Many traditional garments were out of use for almost a century and have become visible again only in recent years through photography projects, designer initiatives and dress shows (such as the great Lalîş show of 2023 with pieces from Russia, Armenia, Georgia, eastern Turkey, north-eastern Syria and the Kurdistan Region) [Rudaw 2023]. Organisations such as Yazda and the Free Yezidi Foundation combine the preservation of dress with cultural reconstruction after the genocide of 2014.

Dress as Politics + Hybrid Identity

Kurdish, and thus also Êzîdî, dress has been politically charged since the 20th century: in 1945 Turkey banned the Şal û Şepik as the “Kurdish national costume” together with the language and the colours red/green/yellow. Dress thereby became a sign of identity and resistance. Young Êzîdî and Kurds in the diaspora today create a hybrid identity by mixing traditional pieces with urban fashion (e.g. Şal û Şepik with sneakers). Cut and style remain a “confession”, which historically made the wearers the target of assimilation regimes [GfbV 2021].

[Sources: Düchting 2021; Yazda Cultural Heritage Reports 2020-2024; Rudaw 2023; GfbV 2021; diaspora observation]

11. Sirr Taboo

• Inner dress details of the highest dignitaries (Mîr) during the Sancak procession, Sirr
• Taboo word “Şeyt…” → “[Unsaid]”
• Blue taboo strict
• Direct depiction of the peacock on clothing is avoided (in favour of abstract symbolism)

Sources

Trust: A = peer-reviewed academic; B = institutional/NGO/recognised community; C = online community source.

Status: 2026-06-16 · Taboo word “Şeyt…” → “[Unsaid]” · Êzîdî conventions: Tawûsî Melek (never “Devil”), Lalîş, Sersal, Xwedê (not Allah), Sinjar/Şingal · Kurmancî-Latin.