Objective: This study aims to identify and analyze the dominant themes present in urban murals in Tehran and to explore how these themes are articulated through their expressive and visual forms. It further seeks to provide a comparative analysis of selected murals located in major urban squares across the city.
Method: Adopting a qualitative research design, this study employs qualitative content analysis alongside semiotic analysis, drawing on the theoretical frameworks of Roland Barthes and Stuart Hall. The empirical corpus consists of mural images displayed in five symbolically significant squares in Tehran—Vali-Asr, Enghelab, Palestine, Jihad, and Vanak—during the period 1399–1404 (2020–2025).
Results: The results indicate that nearly all identified themes—spanning social, cultural, and political spheres—are systematically organized around the ideological foundations of the Islamic Republic of Iran. A variety of expressive strategies are employed; however, slogan-based and textual forms of address demonstrate greater prominence in terms of semantic frequency. Moreover, direct visual representation techniques, such as simulation and realistic depiction, occur more frequently than symbolic or abstract visual modes. Among the five squares examined, Vali-Asr Square holds a central and dominant position in articulating and disseminating diverse ideological themes through artistic and expressive modalities.
Conclusions: The findings reveal that while some mural themes convey a single dominant layer of meaning, others encompass multiple layers of signification. In the social domain, themes pertaining to population and family issues, as well as social and welfare services, exhibit a higher frequency of meaning production. Within the cultural and religious domain, themes related to religious occasions and rituals, along with national ceremonies and celebrations, are notably prominent. In the political domain, themes such as the threat against Israel and Iran’s missile capabilities appear with significant frequency and emphasis.