A style of rug drawing built from angular shapes such as hexagons, diamonds and squares, outlined by straight lines, in contrast to the flowing curves of floral designs. It goes back to some of the oldest Persian rugs, before floral designs, and is typical of village and tribal rugs (Heriz, Hamadan, Zanjan, Abadeh, Karaja, Qashqai, Kazak, Turkmen), though city workshops such as Tabriz also weave it. Many shapes carry symbolic meaning. It comes as an allover pattern, a single central medallion or repeating medallions, and geometric rugs are known for strong borders. Because the shapes need little fine detail, a low-to-medium knot density is enough, as in Heriz and Karaja rugs, and Heriz is still known for durability.
A medallion whose outline is lined with hook-shaped projections sticking out from its edges, regarded as a distinctive feature of Karaja rugs. The bold geometric medallions of a Karaja, which alternate down a runner or repeat in columns over a wider rug, usually carry these hooks, and many small geometric shapes fill the ground around them.
Village rugs from a group of villages in the Azerbaijan region of Iran, at the western edge of the Heriz weaving area and named for the village of Karaja at their center. Wool pile on a cotton foundation (very old pieces may have a wool one), Turkish knot and single weft, so the pile is thinner and softer than the usually double-wefted Heriz, and knot density is low to medium. Two bold geometric medallions with hook-like edges typically alternate down a runner, often on a different ground color with each repeat, and on wide rugs the repeated medallions read as a geometric allover, in orange-reds, blues, creams and browns. Their soft, thin pile and great lengths, some over 20 feet (6 m), make them popular as hallway and stair runners.
A layout in which two or more medallions run down the field in place of a single central medallion, which suits long runners where one medallion would look lost. The medallion outline usually stays the same while its inner pattern and ground color change from one medallion to the next. Karaja runners alternate two distinct medallions, and on wider Karaja rugs the columns of medallions read like a geometric allover pattern. The design is typical of geometric rugs such as Karaja, Heriz, Abadeh, Quchan, Shiraz, and older Mehraban, and it also appears in floral open-field rugs.