The Aesthetic Aspects of the Royal Emblems of the Second Pahlavi Period of Iran Britain with Emphasis on Metaphors

Considering the importance of metaphors in the design of the second Pahlavi royal emblem of Iran and Britain, the question is: What is the impact of visual metaphors on comprehending the final beauty of the two royal emblems? The goal and path is based on the analysis of structural elements to advance towards identifying the type of visual metaphors and their aesthetic features. It is a comparative  research with a descriptive-analytical method that enumerates the similarities and differences. The method of data gatherig is library information collection. The research approach is based on the theorists in cognitive and aesthetics field of research.
 
After considering several elements in the royal emblems of the two countries, the similarities between the two emblems are as follows: in the center of both emblems, the image of a shield can be seen, which consists of four parts. In the second Pahlavi emblem, the national signs of the Achaemenid, Sassanid, Islamic, Qajar  periods can be seen around the first Pahlavi one. The British royal emblem also shows the image of the three lions of England in the first and fourth quarters. The Scottish standing lion also belongs to the second quadrant and the image of the Irish harp also belongs to the third quadrant. The use of crown and lion is also one of the similar points between both Iranian and english emblems. Both of them use mythical animals or hybrid creatures such as phonix, Farvahar and unicorn. Both of them have supports or ribbons with a royal slogan placed in the below section of the emblems. Justice in the second Pahlavi emblem is like a divine gift to the king. In the British emblem, the kingdom is a kind of divine entitlement from God, which is given to the king as a judge. The differences are as follows: the emblem of Britain uses its belt and along with the buckle instead of hanging on the cross or Mary's ascension. It can be seen in the Pahlavi emblem by means of a chain, and also the vine leaves around the shield, the torpedo mouth arabesques, and the flower motifs are among the decorations of the Pahlavi emblem. Thistle (symbol of Mary's virginity and Christ's crown), Theodore's rose (symbol of the union of the houses of York  and Lancaster) and clover (symbol of St. Patrick) are among the decorative elements of the British emblem. The rising sun in the center of the Pahlavi royal emblem is not seen in the British. The final difference can also be stated in the placement of two guard lions around the Pahlavi emblem and the placement of a unicorn and a lion in the British one. The second pahlavi emblem has more  hybrid creatures, while the unicorn is the only mythical creature of the British emblem. In the emblem of Britain, the helmet of the knights can be seen and it suggests a human whose body seems empty, while in  the second Pahlavi one, it is more difficult to recognize such a thing due to the lack of leaves to suggest hair. The origin of metaphors in the second Pahlavi royal emblem shows the following purposes in order. Crown implies the material concepts such as royalty and kingdom power, shield  states guarding the country and the sword indicates spiritual concepts such as the importance of Shiism. The lion shows the purposes such as protection, courage and Imam Ali (peace be upon him). Farvahar means divine and spiritual forces and indicates the Achaemenid period, phonix (simurgh) states the cosmic and supernatural forces and suggest Sassanid era, Damavand implies the mythological and Pahlavi era of Iran. Blue, yellow, and red colours, respectively, choose the brightness and spirituality; wisdom and blessing;  happiness and prosperity as their destinations. Origin of Metaphors in British Royal emblem show the purposes as follows: crown implies the spiritual growth and enlightenment, golden helmet indicates the Royal family and chivalry, standing lion means the king and guardian of the worldly force, the horizontal lion implicates the power of the kingdom, the unicorn indicates Christ and Patron, the belt shows the power-covenant and ascension to heaven, three horizontal lions decision making- foresight, also is the sign of England, harp shows spiritual growth -Irish Gods and country, the Standing Lion indicates broad-handed and long-armed, also indicates Scotland, full shield; is a sign of Great Britain and the United Kingdom. Metaphor in white, red, yellow, blue, green, red and white colours, respectively, implies purity and innocence; lordship and virtue of ruling; The power of the sun and blessing-kingdom; spirituality-spiritual growth; life and immortality; The union of the kingdom (York and Lancaster houses in past and two other contries in present) is the destination.
From the common purposes of the two emblems, the need to confirm religion, guarding and protecting, and the importance of the kingdom's power on earth, and the importance of the king are inferred. In the Pahlavi emblem, different historical eras and their unity are understood, while in the royal emblem of the United Kingdom, the united countries are more important than the historical period of England itself. The spiritual dimension is more prominent in the emblem of Britain. It is as if more universal concepts are needed to unite different countries. In the second Pahlavi emblem, the historical dimension is more specific, because the Pahlavi period brought together all the proud historical periods in the emblem. The results show that the similarities of structural features is greater than the differences between the two emblems. From a content dimension, the emblem of Britain is more fruitful in terms of the multiplicity of elements. The meanings of each of the elements in the emblems are affected by the political and religious conditions and the cultural and historical precedents of that country.
The comparison of the beautifying characteristics, shows that the more visual metaphors, the more complex the design seems to be, and the audience faces more tension and more defamiliarization. The greater the unity or harmony, the greater the possibility of entering to the threshold of beauty. In the emblem of second pahlavi, substitional metaphors are almost equal to combinational metaphors. In terms of unity, the repetitive designs such as damavand, lion, sword, yellow, and colours like blue show the Pahlavi emblem as coherent and unified. In this design, complexity is more important than unity. In the emblem of Britain, the substitional metaphors are less than the combinational type. The combinational metaphors cause the unity of discrete parts or components.
For example, in the emblem of Britain, the helmet, the shield and the belt together evoke a royal body and there is less tension in finding the final destination. In this emblem, unity as a beautifying charactristic seems a little stronger than complexity. The results show that the discussion about beauty is not solely dependent on the harmoy of the shape and form and colours of emblems or works of art. The conceptual and meaningful dimension also plays an important role in the distinguishing of beauty. The harmony of whole composition and holistic content is realy determinant.  The beauty of visual  metaphors includes both harmony and complexity of formal and content aspects. The historical precedence of the design and construction of the emblem of Britain (from 1837 up to 1952), the structural similarities between the two emblems, reveals the possible influence of the second Pahlavi emblem from the of Britain, although in the design of both emblems, different components with historical, cultural and political themes are understood. Through the study of emblems, it becomes easier to identify the direction of their relation in the future due to important agreements and goals from structural, content and aesthetic aspects. Finally, the study of the royal emblems of two countries makes it possible to identify the perspective of the today goals and future covenants.