More than 90 years ago, the imported shemagh used to reach the Arabian Peninsula through a number of ports, the most important of which are the ports of the Arabian Gulf and Bahrain. It came in the name of a group of merchants and suppliers, the most famous of whom is Ibn Nasr and Ibn Bassam, who remained a prominent name. Shemagh fabrics used to arrive wholesale to merchants and each shemagh was cut separately, coming in many colors and similar sizes, differing in some of its weaving and embroidery, sometimes with frills. Its most famous colors were red, black, green and orange.
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In the 20s & 30s, the shemagh was approved as a dress for the Saudi military sector, until King Abdulaziz summoned the Arab leader, Tariq Al-Afriqi, to work with Prince Mansour bin Abdulaziz, Minister of Defense at the time. Leader Tariq al-Afriqi assumed command of the Saudi army staff, and one of his actions was to replace the shemagh with the military hat. Therefore, the shemagh was absent from the sectors of the Ministry of Defense and the internal security sectors and remained in the sectors of the Royal Guard and the National Guard. In the 50s, the shemagh was widely present in the desert and urban areas, but by the 60s it began to recede after the spread of wearing the white veil / scarf.
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The decade of the 70s, especially the second half of it, witnessed the strong return of the red shemagh. At the end of the seventies, the effects of the economic boom began to appear on the members of society, citizens and residents, and the debate was raging between the shemagh Al aqal, which was less expensive, and the more expensive shemagh Al bassam.
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The demand for the shemagh was high with the boom and the shift from wearing the white ghutra to the red shemagh began.
Shemagh advertisements appeared everywhere; in newspapers, magazines and on roadsides, and a number of foreign professional players contracted by Saudi teams wore the Arab shemagh (the demand for shemagh increased and the supply decreased). The reason for the crisis is that the increase in income made it easier for people to buy expensive items, which caused an increase in demand and a lack of supply. The crisis did not last long as the markets were quickly flooded with a number of items of red shemagh, including the most expensive items, whose price became affordable for everyone.
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Middle-income people were able to appear purchasing the "expensive at the time" shemagh, and the red shemagh was seen filling the stands of football stadiums and the gatherings in the Two Holy Mosques. A number of companies and names began to diverse into the shemagh market.
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Multiple images in the Haram in the past reflect the commitment to wearing the shemagh, in general. Today we only see the bisht on official occasions, and we see the abandonment of the shemagh, except for the Imams and Muadhin of the Haram who wear either the shemagh or the ghutra along with the traditional bisht.