Colors in Persian Carpets and Rugs

In the history of Persian carpet weaving, color has always been crucial. Each color helps identify and describe a particular rug's relative age and style, used to evoke strong feelings and represent vital concepts. It is challenging to truly appreciate the colors of a Persian carpet without being aware of the cultures in which they were created. However, it's fascinating how each color in Persian rugs has a special significance and combines to tell a magnificent tale. They contribute to the value of Persian carpets and rugs. Let's find out the meaning of each color:

While red is a typical color in Persian rugs, orange isn't widely used, though most colors in Persian rugs are warm to make a warm house. Orange symbolizes vigor, a color full of energy that always helped weavers and designers of Persian rugs create embossed motifs. Also, it has the same effect as red in similarity with the concept of fire as one of the four crucial elements of life. Orange is a vivid color, representing the passion of each tribe and people according to their rugs. You can find orange Persian rugs mostly woven by Qashaie and Kurdish tribes, as these people have strong souls and great enthusiasm for a free life.

Yellow is a sign of sunlight. For Persians, the sun and light are the glories of God, which help them to live a peaceful life and pass over darkness. So it was always an important color in Persian carpets and Persian art. Gold does, however, symbolize royalty, power, and wealth. Because of the fabulous texture of silk fibers, which produce a brilliant yellow in rugs, most Persian silk rugs have gold in their designs. You can see that most of the Safavid carpets that are kept in museums have gold as one of their main colors because they were woven in royal carpet workshops at that time. Today, rugs with golden fibers are primarily woven in large cities like Isfahan and Qom, while yellow Persian rugs are woven widely by tribes or rustic carpet workshops.

Green was a sign of spring and Nowruz (the Persian New Year) since Muslims came to Persia (Iran) and impacted Persian culture. Green became a holy color for Muslims in Iran, according to stories of their prophet, so they didn't use this color much in carpets or just employed it in borders. For people who live in villages and for Persian tribes, green is an important color because it is associated with the surrounding nature. They use different shades of green in their handwoven carpets as a symbol of nature, trees, and meadows.
Today green Persian rugs are more common because of the new beliefs of Persian for respecting the earth, peace, and life.

Blue is another prominent color in Persian carpets. For Persians, this color signifies calmness and peace and is associated with the sky (one of the essential objects in Persian art). Blue is a favored color in Persian rugs and other arts created by these people. As light shades of blue symbolize graceful aspects of life like peace, royalty, and kindness, darker shades of blue, like navy blue, signify life after death. Also, for Persians, light blue indicates the relations between humans and each other, and dark blue represents the inner world of people. Blue Persian rugs are one of the most suitable carpets for many interior designs that you can find in any Persian carpet style.

Purple, violet, and other shades are considered rare colors in Persian carpets. You may need help finding a purple Persian rug because this color was used for royal carpets because obtaining purple and its shades from natural dyes took a lot of work. Persians could only apply stunning purple colors from carmine dyes or murex (a kind of sea snail on Mediterranean beaches which creates Tyrian purple) that were hard to find. Also, purple colors were more brilliant and durable on silk fibers. Therefore, purple and its shades always signify royalty in Persian rugs.
Today, with chemical dyes in many hues, purple Persian rugs are more common.

Pink is another unique color that is rarely used in Persian rugs. You may not easily find a traditional Persian carpet with a primary pink color, but you can see different shades of pink used in many motifs, especially in Kerman rugs. Pink is the color of one of the lovely motifs on Persian rugs called " Golfarang." This motif is used widely in many styles and regions of Persian carpets, like Bakhtiari rugs and Tabriz rugs. It represents a unique form of a rose, and French designs influenced weavers and designers of Persian carpets. Also, some rose motifs that you can see in some Persian rugs with a stunning pink color signify the Persian rose (damask rose), which has a remarkable place in Persian cultures. In Persian carpets, pink is also a symbol of kindness and elegance in women. Today pink Persian rugs are still rare but more available as modern taste changes!

Light hues like white, ivory, and cream always refer to spiritual concepts in Persian rugs. They use these colors not only for their psychic effects, but also to emboss motifs. So most Persian carpets have light colors like cream and ivory as their primary color to show patterns better. These colors are also used for busy patterns. You may see more cream and ivory in some styles, like Nain and Yazd rugs. In some styles, these colors show the unique nature of their regions. For example, Nain rugs use a lot of shades of cream and beige because of their geographical position in the desert. However, cream and ivory Persian rugs are easily available in many carpet workshops.

Brown is a sign of the earth and symbolizes fertility in Persian carpets. This color is associated with soil, which is one of the main four elements of life in Persian culture. Therefore, other primary colors in Persian rugs give you this feeling of walking on the soil. It depends on the region and how much weavers and designers of Persian carpets use brown and different shades of brown in weaving and designing rugs. You can see that rugs belonging to desert areas have more beige, camel, and brown colors, like Nain and Arak. Brown Persian rugs are always suitable for most interior decorations, creating a chic space.

Almost all Persian carpet producers didn't use black and gray colors for carpets. People's passion for life appeared in Persian rugs' bright and warm colors. They believed black symbolized darkness and filth, so you can't find a Persian rug with black as its primary color. Shades of gray also weren't common in Persian rugs. Today, black and gray Persian rugs are produced not in a considerable range but as unique rugs suitable for some decorations. Still, these colors haven't a notable value in Handmade Persian rugs, but unlike in Machine-made carpets, you can find beautiful new classic collections of gray or Black Persian rugs.