Fillet (clothing)

A fillet was originally worn in classical antiquity, especially in cultures of the Mediterranean, Levant and Persia, including Hellenic culture. At that time, a fillet was a very narrow band of cloth, leather or some form of garland, frequently worn by athletes. It was also worn as a sign of royalty and became symbolized in later ages as a metallic ring which was a stylized band of cloth. Greeks called it Diadema (διάδημα) and although most Roman Emperors didn't wear it, after Caesar refused it when offered him by Antonius, except in a few cases, Constantine the Great adopted the Greek emblem of royalty. Before the diadem was worn by the Roman emperors as a symbol of sovereignty, it was used as a head-dress by Roman women.

Later, in medieval times, a fillet was a type of headband worn by unmarried women, in certain monk hoods, usually with a wimple or barbette. This is indicated in the sign language of said monks (who took oaths of silence), wherein a sweeping motion across the brow, in the shape of a fillet, indicated an unmarried woman.

Gallery

• 
  Crown of Nubkheperre Intef, pharaoh of the Seventeenth Dynasty of Egypt
• 
  Relief of Amenhotep III, pharaoh of the Eighteenth Dynasty of Egypt, wearing a filet crown
• 
  Procession of Officials from Medinet Habu of Ramesses III, pharaoh of the Twentieth Dynasty of Egypt
• 
  Charioteer of Delphi, wearing a fillet headband, bronze statue (478–474 BCE).

See also

• Diadem
• Tainia
• Wreath