Summary

The Albanian qeleshe (or plis) is a distinct national symbol with direct roots in ancient Illyrian headgear, preserved continuously among Albanians for over two millennia. Claims that it was “worn everywhere” by Serbs, Montenegrins, Bulgarians, or on Byzantine courts are Serbian nationalist revisionism. Traditional Serbian headwear includes the šajkača and šubara, not the white felt plis. While similar felt caps existed in antiquity across cultures, only Albanians maintained this specific form, craftsmanship, and symbolism as a living tradition tied to their pre-Slavic heritage. The plis became a national emblem during the Rilindja and independence struggles.

The Facebook post by “Vasojević” (a Serbian/Montenegrin nationalist account posting under “ilirskim tragovima” – “Illyrian traces”) is a textbook example of Serbian historical revisionism and cultural appropriation.

It claims that the white felt skullcap known as the qeleshe (or plis in northern Albanian dialects) was “worn by various peoples” – Romans, Greeks, Macedonians, Bulgarians, Montenegrins, Bosniaks, Serbs – on the courts of Byzantium and Rome, and that similar caps existed among Etruscans, Gauls, Franks, and even across Africa, Asia, and Europe. Therefore, the post concludes, Albanians cannot claim it as proof of their own ancient origins, and its presence does not “automatically mean Albanian heritage.”

This is deliberate misinformation designed to dilute Albanian cultural continuity and erase the qeleshe/plis as a living symbol of Illyrian-Albanian identity. While similar brimless felt caps existed in the ancient Mediterranean world (as they did in many cultures), the specific form, craftsmanship, continuous tradition, and national symbolism of the qeleshe/plis are uniquely preserved among Albanians – not Serbs or other Slavic groups.

Fact 1: The Qeleshe/Plis Has Direct Illyrian Roots and Continuous Albanian Use

Archaeological and ethnographic evidence links the qeleshe/plis directly to Illyrian headgear from the Iron Age (c. 1200–200 BCE). Hemispherical felt caps appear in Illyrian graves (both male and female) across the western Balkans. A famous monument from Zenica (modern Bosnia) shows a calotte-shaped cap almost identical to the modern plis. Similar depictions exist on 2nd–3rd century AD monuments from Roman-era Illyrian territories in Bosnia.

Ethnographers such as Dr. Bashkim Lajci (University of Prishtina) confirm that the Albanian plis/qeleshe descends from Illyrian prototypes, with regional variations (tall in central Albania, rounder in the north with tirqe trousers) that have survived for millennia. The white color became standardized during the Albanian Renaissance (Rilindja, 19th century), when it was deliberately adopted as a national emblem of resistance and identity.

Linguistically, “qeleshe” derives from the Albanian word for wool (lesh), while “plis” traces to Proto-Albanian p(i)litja, related to ancient terms for felt (cf. Latin pileus). This is not a generic “Balkan” or “Serbian” cap – it is a tangible link to Albania’s pre-Slavic, Illyrian heritage.

Fact 2: Serbs, Montenegrins, Bulgarians, and Others Did NOT Traditionally Wear the Plis/Qeleshe

Serbian traditional headgear is entirely different: the šajkača (a stiff cloth military-style cap), šubara (lambskin fur hat), or simple woolen scarves. Serbian ethnographic sources themselves list the šajkača as the most common 19th–20th century male headwear in central Serbia. There is no historical record of Serbs wearing the white felt plis as a national or folk costume.

Montenegrin highlanders (including some Vasojević clans) occasionally adopted elements of Albanian highlander dress through centuries of contact and intermarriage in mixed border regions – but this was cultural borrowing from Albanians, not the reverse. The plis was never a symbol of Serbian or Montenegrin identity; when it appears in Serbian contexts, it is either Albanian influence or outright appropriation.

Bulgarians, Greeks, and Bosniaks had their own distinct caps (e.g., Bulgarian kalpak, various Ottoman-era fezzes). The post’s claim that the cap was “worn on the courts of Byzantium and Rome” confuses generic ancient felt caps (like the Roman pileus of freedmen) with the specific Albanian qeleshe. Ancient Romans and Byzantines used many head coverings; none were the continuous, white, hand-felted skullcap preserved by Albanians.

Fact 3: Serbian Claims of “Keče/Čulaf/Plis” as Serbian Are Modern Nationalist Propaganda

Serbian sources sometimes refer to a “keče” or “čulav” (white rolled wool cap) and try to retroactively claim it as “ancient Serbian folk dress.” Albanian researchers have documented this as cultural theft. For example, 19th-century Serbian writer Ivan Jastrebov described Albanian costumes in Dukagjin (including white caps and tirqe trousers) but then labeled them “purely Serbian” – a classic revisionist tactic. Serbian propaganda has repeatedly tried to rebrand Albanian wool costumes (tirqe + plis) as their own, especially in Kosovo and Sandžak regions where Albanians were the indigenous population before Slavic migrations.

This mirrors broader Serbian efforts to appropriate Illyrian heritage while denying Albanian continuity – the same pattern seen in denial of the Kosovo battle narratives or Albanian autochthony. In the 1990s, the Milošević regime even banned the plis in Kosovo, violently removing it from Albanian heads as a symbol of “separatism.”

Fact 4: The Collage in the Post Actually Proves the Albanian Case

The very images shared in the post (ancient Greek pottery, Illyrian monuments, medieval icons) are the same ones Albanian scholars use to demonstrate Illyrian continuity. They do not show “Serbs wearing plis on Byzantine courts.” They show ancient Balkan/Illyrian figures in headgear that evolved into the modern Albanian qeleshe. The post cherry-picks universal ancient caps to obscure the specific, unbroken Albanian tradition.

In reality, the qeleshe/plis became a badge of Albanian identity during the independence struggles (worn by figures like Isa Boletini and Azem Galica fighting Serbian and Montenegrin forces). It remains a national symbol today, worn at weddings, football matches, and cultural events across Albanian lands.

Conclusion

The post is not neutral history – it is Serbian nationalist propaganda meant to undermine Albanian claims to their Illyrian roots and justify cultural erasure in the Balkans. Similar caps existed in antiquity across the Mediterranean, just as tunics and sandals did. What makes the qeleshe/plis uniquely Albanian is its continuous survival as a living tradition among Albanians for over 2,000 years, its role as a national emblem, and its absence from Serbian, Bulgarian, or other Slavic folk costumes.

Albanians do not deny that felt caps existed elsewhere. They simply state the obvious: this specific white cap is ours – a tactile link to our Illyrian ancestors that we alone have preserved. Attempts to “share” it away are the real historical revisionism.

References

Lajçi, Bashkim. Etnologji. Prishtinë: Botimpex, 2020. (Ethnographic study linking the plis to Illyrian prototypes and regional variations.)

Lajçi, Bashkim. “Rreth disa mënyrave të dekorimit të trupit te shqiptarët.” Gjurmime Albanologjike – Folklor dhe Etnologji 41–42 (2011).

Prishtina Insight. “The Untold Story of the Albanian Plis.” April 1, 2016. https://prishtinainsight.com/the-untold-story-of-the…/. (Interview with ethnologist Bashkim Lajci on Illyrian/Pelasgian roots, the Zenica monument, and Serbian regime bans on the plis in the 1990s.)

Balkan Academia. “Exposing Serbian Propaganda; Trying to Culturally Appropriate the Albanian Tirqi (Wool) Costume and Plis as ‘Serbian’.” February 6, 2026. https://balkanacademia.com/…/exposing-serbian…/. (Documents Serbian wiki claims and 19th-century writer Ivan Jastrebov re-labeling Albanian costumes as “Serbian.”)

Balkan Academia. “Critical Review: The Serbian Cultural Appropriation and Theft of the Albanian Wool Costume and Plis (Qeleshe).” September 23, 2025. https://balkanacademia.com/…/critical-review-the…/. (Analysis of Serbian rebranding of Albanian tirqe + plis as their own folk

“Šubara.” Slavic Folklore (Facebook post). https://www.facebook.com/slavicfolklore/posts/the-%C5%A1ubara-serbian-cyrillic-%D1%88%D1%83%D0%B1%D0%B0%D1%80%D0%B0-is-a-type-of-traditional-male-winter-hat-used/1951199244917408/. (Confirms šubara as traditional Serbian fur hat, distinct from felt skullcaps.)

“The Legend of Šajkača – A Famous Serbian Cap.” Academia.edu.https://www.academia.edu/…/The_Legend_Of_%C5%A0ajka%C4…. (Details šajkača as the primary Serbian national cap, originating in 19th-century military uniform.)

“Xhubleta, Skills, Craftsmanship and Forms of Usage.” UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage. Inscribed 2022. https://ich.unesco.org/…/xhubleta-skills-craftsmanship…. (Example of Albanian traditional crafts receiving international recognition; plis follows similar patterns of continuity.)