Kupiah is a head cover that used to be worn by regional head sand important people. There are several types of kupiah, namely: kupiah Aceh, kupiah Kleng, kupiah Pidie and kupiah Arab. Kupiah Kleng is higher than other types and thinner (leuke ‘) in the middle. Kupiah Aceh is higher than Kupiah Arab, kupiah Pidie is more curved than kupiah Kleng and more pointed at its top and the shape is sturdier than other Kupiah. The sides of Kupiah are often decorated with various motifs and certain figures, such as kalimah puntong, kalimah rayeuek, bungong kunci and many more. Kupiah decorated with the kalimah is called meukeutob. Kupiah is made by tying a few threads and it is usually only done by women. The material used in making kupiah is ija tayam
(G. Rujo sam) which was imported from Penang.
Ija tayam is a kind of a silk fabric with four colors stripes which are red, black, yellow and green. The color stripes on the cloth are separated by a white color with a smaller size. One piece (sikayee) of the fabric is about 3 span (jungkay) width and 11 to 12 cubits (nain) length. Kupiah is made by cutting the colored lines separately and Kupiah Aceh then making the clipping that shaped like the tilted boxes, after that split them into two (seunirong). The Kupiah we know now is made of these pieces, but there is a small difference in the making Kupiah Aceh besar and kupiah Pidie, that is in Kupiah Aceh besar especially on the bujay (the top of kupiah), it is encircled by an edge that is plaited together (seuneuret) with metal yarn, while in Kupiah Pidie, Seuneuret kupiah is made of white silk yarn (sutra rube ‘).
In the centre of the circle there is a small hole to insert the stalk from tampo ‘ which is a kind of solid gold jewellery in the shape of a button, shaped as an octagonal star with porcelain or jewels.
Kupiah was initially worn by the chiefs of traditions and also by prominent people. For tampok kupiah, it is only worn on special occasions and by male only, especially a male from prominent families, the groom also wears them with his great clothes and
kupiah is also worn by aneu ‘seudati. The making of Kupiah in Aceh was once centered in Gampong Jawa, Tungkob and Garot in Pidie, and now there are many craftsmen who make the Kupiah.