When decorating their homes, many people buy antique Persian rugs as an investment and because of the bright colours and beautifully hand-woven designs.
However, there is much more to many of these designs than meets the eye! Although some antique Persian rugs have been designed simply because the pattern was aesthetically pleasing, many of the designs also have symbolic meanings behind them too.
When diamonds are intentionally worked into a design, they may represent women, and pomegranates are almost always used a symbol of fertility, whilst peacocks are usually associated with immortality.
Different flowers and plants are representative of different things, for example, peonies may stand for political power, whereas lotus blossoms can represents, immortality, reincarnation, and rebirth.
Tulips may suggest wealth or emotional prosperity whilst hyacinths can represent renewal.
Trees may be woven into a design as a literal depiction of the Tree of Life, which is a multi-cultural symbol of the route from Earth to Heaven (or alternatively from Birth to Death).
The colours in antique Persian rugs are also traditionally very representative, although some colours of rugs are now more common than other; in part to keep up with the tastes of Western consumers.
Red, which is now one of the most common colours of rug, traditionally represented courage, love, happiness and beauty, whilst blues and golds represented power and wealth.
This is partly because when craftspeople started making and designing rugs thousands of years ago the ingredients used to make blue dyes were so expensive that only very wealthy people could afford to buy blue coloured fabrics.
Gold was also expensive because the gold colour in some very old rugs was sometimes even actually threads of finely spun gold.
Historically, green was not used because it was traditionally thought of as a holy colour and associated with the Islamic prophet, Mohammed.
However, green is now used more and more frequently because it appeals to the tastes of Western consumers.
White can represent a number of different things, such as purity and peace, but it is also representative of death and is viewed by some as a funeral colour.
Brown represented fertility and a good harvest, whilst black represented destruction.
These symbols can be interpreted on their own or the whole rug can be viewed as a whole and the design can be interpreted more like a story.
An example of this could be interpreting a rug which depicts white diamonds on a red background, as being representative of the happiness and beauty of pure young females.
Another example is a rug showing peacocks amongst the lotus blossoms on a blue background being interpreted as showing the immortality and rebirth of a wealthy nobleman.
Although this guide to symbolism can help you decipher patterns and meanings in antique Persian rugs, be aware that there are many fake Persian rugs on the market, where the design has simply been copied from older rugs, with no regards to the intended symbolism.
It is also possible that designs from different regions of Iran have slightly different symbolic meanings.
However, there is much more to many of these designs than meets the eye! Although some antique Persian rugs have been designed simply because the pattern was aesthetically pleasing, many of the designs also have symbolic meanings behind them too.
When diamonds are intentionally worked into a design, they may represent women, and pomegranates are almost always used a symbol of fertility, whilst peacocks are usually associated with immortality.
Different flowers and plants are representative of different things, for example, peonies may stand for political power, whereas lotus blossoms can represents, immortality, reincarnation, and rebirth.
Tulips may suggest wealth or emotional prosperity whilst hyacinths can represent renewal.
Trees may be woven into a design as a literal depiction of the Tree of Life, which is a multi-cultural symbol of the route from Earth to Heaven (or alternatively from Birth to Death).
The colours in antique Persian rugs are also traditionally very representative, although some colours of rugs are now more common than other; in part to keep up with the tastes of Western consumers.
Red, which is now one of the most common colours of rug, traditionally represented courage, love, happiness and beauty, whilst blues and golds represented power and wealth.
This is partly because when craftspeople started making and designing rugs thousands of years ago the ingredients used to make blue dyes were so expensive that only very wealthy people could afford to buy blue coloured fabrics.
Gold was also expensive because the gold colour in some very old rugs was sometimes even actually threads of finely spun gold.
Historically, green was not used because it was traditionally thought of as a holy colour and associated with the Islamic prophet, Mohammed.
However, green is now used more and more frequently because it appeals to the tastes of Western consumers.
White can represent a number of different things, such as purity and peace, but it is also representative of death and is viewed by some as a funeral colour.
Brown represented fertility and a good harvest, whilst black represented destruction.
These symbols can be interpreted on their own or the whole rug can be viewed as a whole and the design can be interpreted more like a story.
An example of this could be interpreting a rug which depicts white diamonds on a red background, as being representative of the happiness and beauty of pure young females.
Another example is a rug showing peacocks amongst the lotus blossoms on a blue background being interpreted as showing the immortality and rebirth of a wealthy nobleman.
Although this guide to symbolism can help you decipher patterns and meanings in antique Persian rugs, be aware that there are many fake Persian rugs on the market, where the design has simply been copied from older rugs, with no regards to the intended symbolism.
It is also possible that designs from different regions of Iran have slightly different symbolic meanings.