Burnous

A burnous (Berber languages: ⴰⴱⵔⵏⵓⵙ abernus), also burnoose, bournous or barnous, is a long cloak of coarse woollen fabric with a hood, usually white in color, worn by the Berbers and other Maghrebis. In the Maghreb, the colour of the burnous is white, beige, or dark brown. The white burnous is worn during important events and by people with high positions.[1]

Urban Algerian man wearing a white/beige burnous, 19th century
A French Spahi uniform c. 1960 with a distinctive white burnous

Burnous in other cultures

The burnous became a distinctive part of the uniform of the French Army of Africa's spahi cavalry, recruited in Algeria, Morocco, and Tunisia. It was also sometimes worn unofficially by officers or soldiers of other units in North Africa. The white burnous remains part of the parade uniform of the one remaining spahi regiment of the French Army: the 1st Spahi Regiment.

Other names for a burnous include albornoz, sbernia, sberna, and bernusso.

See also

References
  1. Encyclopédie du costume: des peuples de l'Antiquité à nos jours ainsi que, Nouvelles editions latines. Maurice Cottaz. (1990). Page 80. ISBN 2-7233-0421-3. Date:02-08-2016.
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