Why was the Fez banned?
The societal position of the fez as a symbol of tradition led to its ban in Turkey in 1925 by Mustafa Kemal Atatürk in the Hat Revolution, part of his modernizing reforms. The Turkish fez, originally imported from North Africa, has a complicated political history: a symbol of Turkish nationalism and modernization under Sultan Mahmud II around 1826, when it largely replaced the turban, it changed to one of Islamic orthodoxy under Mustafa Kemal (Ataturk), who outlawed it in 1925 in favor .The fez, considered a symbol of Islam, was banned outright in Turkey in 1925 by Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, who proclaimed Turkey to be a secular, rather than an Islamic, state (see Atatürk). Although not banned in other countries, the fez gradually fell out of fashion and is rarely seen today.The modern fez owes much of its popularity to the Ottoman era. It became a symbol of the Ottoman Empire in the early 19th century. In 1827, Mahmud II mandated its use as a modern headdress for his new army, the Asakir-i Mansure-i Muhammediye.The fez was worn either with or without a turban by Moslems, Christians and Jews. The Turkish soldiers and officialdom in Turkey, including the Sultan, with the exception of certain ecclesiastical dignitaries, wore their fezzes without the turban.