Symbolic Meaning of Colours in Safavid and Ottoman Mosques

Abstract

Mosques are considered some of the most influential buildings in Islamic architecture, which had a direct impact on Muslim culture. Despite many studies on mosques, to date few have focused on the symbolic meaning of colour and its communicative role in traditional Islamic mosques. Therefore, by limiting this study to Safavid and Ottoman mosques, this research investigates the similarities and differences between the symbolic meanings of colour in traditional mosques in these two periods. To the end, content analysis method is used as the primary mean to review and analyse the collected data from the existing literature about the meaning of colours in four samples: Shah (Imam) and Sheikh Lotfollah Mosques from the Safavid period, and Sultan Ahmed and Sehzadeh mosques from the Ottoman period. The results show that some colours such as green and yellow have similar meanings in both periods; colours like red and black, however, have different connotations.