Traditional Hairdos And Headdresses On Stamps

Please share your stamps and philatelic items depicting traditional Hairdos and Headdresses.

Traditional African Hairdos - Central African Republic, 1967:

Traditional Hairdos - Upper Volta (Burkina Faso), 1972:

Woman been Groomed (Femme se Parant), painting by Marc Leguay - Kingdom of Laos, 1969:

Traditional hats of residents of the European North of Russia

Thank you very much, Alexey, for these great stamps. I know there are more in this series and will be glad to see them.

Here is one nice engraved stamp shows Batetela woman issued for use in Belgian Congo in 1942:

hello, LaoPhil! I am pleased to show the entire series "Headdresses of the peoples of Russia". Series 2010 - Headdresses of the Volga Tatars

The most important headdress in Russian history is the Monomakh hat.



According to legend, it belonged to the Kiev Grand Duke Vladimir Vsevolodovich (1053-1125).

He had the nickname Monomakh, as he was the grandson of the Byzantine emperor Constantine Monomakh.



Vladimir Monomakh was one of the most powerful and influential princes of Kiev, several literary and state works of this prince are known




Monomakh's hat in reality was later made from several gold plates with decorations, several times altered, decorated with precious stones and trimmed with sable fur.



For many centuries it kilogram of gold served as the crown of the Russian tsars.

but in the drama "Boris Godunov" this tsar addresses her: "Yes, thou art heavy, Monomakh's hat!", thinking about the severity of government.



now Monomakh's hat is kept in the Armory Chamber of the Moscow Kremlin

Thank you very much, Alexey, for this great post. I like very much reading your posts which are great stories you tell through stamps!!! Thanks!!!

Fulani Special Hairstyle

The Fulani Tribe is the largest nomadic pastoral community in the world that populate West Africa and the Sahel Region.
A very traditional hairstyle for women includes long hair being put into five long braids that either hang or are looped on the sides, with a coiffure in the middle of the head. Hair is decorated with beads and cowrie shells. A tradition that is passed through the generations to women and young girls includes attaching the family's silver coins and amber onto braids as a heritage symbol as well as for aesthetic purposes.

Here is a small group of stamps show this hairstyle:

Issued for use in French West Africa - Guinea in 1938:

Issued for use in Portuguese Guinea in April, 1948:


Issued for use in French West Africa in 1948:

Fulani Woman of Guinea, Card issued during the 1930's by Chocolat Suchard company in France for the French colonies card album:

hello, Laofil! Glad you liked my story.
And this is a modern story: the painting depicts an episode of the presentation of a maroon beret to a young fighter. "Maroon beret" is a badge of special distinction in the Russian Internal Troops (National Guard).



To get it, the best fighters perform a continuous series of difficult tests, a full-load 12 km run, an obstacle course, tactical shooting, acrobatic exercises, storming a building and 3 hand-to-hand fights.
"The maroon berets" are the elite of the Special Forces of the Internal Troops, warriors who have no privileges, but are highly respected.

Thanks again, Alexey, for your interesting contribution

The Baule or Baoulé are an Akan people and one of the largest groups in Côte d'Ivoire who historically migrated from Ghana. Here is a Baule woman with a very special hairdo on a stamp issued for use in French West Africa (AOF) - Ivory Coast in 1936. Note the wrong inscription on the stamp:

Two portraits of women doing their hairdo by the wonderful Russian artist Zinaida Serebryakova: "At the Dressing-Table. Self-Portrait" and "Portrait of O.K. Lansere"



Serebryakova came from a family of famous artists, architects and art critics Lanceray and Benois. Members of these families have left a bright mark on Russian art.
Here is the work of her father, sculptor Eugene Lansere


And these are the paintings of her brother Evgeny Evgenievich Lanceray



Her mother's relatives were from another famous family of artists - Benoi. Best known is Alexander Benois, artist, author of sets and costumes for the Russian ballets "Petrushka" and "Scheherazade"

Woman coiffures of different Togolese tribes, issued by Togo on February 21, 1970:






This banknote, shows man headdress, issued for use in Togo, then part of West African States - 1959:

another series "Russian hats - hats of Central Russia"

Woman headdresses of different tribes, issued by South West Africa (Namibia) on May 25, 1984:

A set of engraved definitive stamps of this design was issued by Senegal over a period of 30 years starting in 1972.

Traditional African Woman Hairdos - People's Republic of Congo, 1976: