Analysis of the semantic layers of the symbol of "Octagonal Star" in the social and cultural context of Iran contemporary graphic

The study of art in its social context has a long history in art studies. One of the most important branches of historical art research, which has a sociological approach to art and artists, emphasizes the art analysis in the cultural context. Ervin Panofsky is one of the pioneers of this approach who provided a way to analyze the visual arts in its historical and social context by defining iconology. In this way, the meaning of each visual element is described in direct relation to cultural, social and religious roots, in three layers or three semantic levels (including pre-iconography, iconography and iconology) and finally, interprets the art works.In this article, which has been done in a descriptive-analytical method with an iconological approach, the symbol of the “Octagonal Star” has been studied in a social and cultural context. The “Octagonal Star” is one of the symbols that can be seen in Iranian arts since ancient times before Islam, repeatedly. After Islam, especially during the Shiite periods, the use of this symbol has become more widespread that is not comparable to other kinds of geometrical stars in the history of Iranian art. This abundance is quite evident in Iranian contemporary art, especially graphics. In this research, the reasons of the popularity of this symbol is studied and analyzed in the context of society throughout history up to the contemporary era based on Ervin Panofsky's iconological method.