The invention of the fan is widely credited to the countries of the Far East, particularly China and Japan. Although fans were given practical roles, they were often used in religious ceremonial instances in cultures around the world. The ancient Greeks are credited with first painting fans with such symbolic and allegorical inscriptions, a practice that has persisted throughout the centuries and expanded across the continents. The establishment of trade mingled such diverse craftsmanship as the painted fans of the West and the feathered fans of the East, giving birth to the wonderfully crafted styles that were exported to America during its early centuries.

Materials, colors, and the design of fans often symbolized certain roles in society: mourning, wedding, mystery, and opera fans are just a few of the common types. As its uses became more involved, the fan became more intricate in design and a language developed among the aristocratic and genteel branch of society. Women learned to maneuver their fans to convey secret messages to suitors; the seemingly innocent gesture of slowly shutting an open fan translated to the knowledgeable gentleman as a promise to marry him!