Henna Design Motifs and Their Meanings

Henna designs are some of the most beautiful line art in the world, and they make wonderful coloring pages. Before you pick up a pencil, it helps to know where the shapes come from and what they can mean to the families and communities who wear them.

Henna comes from the leaves of a shrub, Lawsonia inermis. The Natural History Museum in London (opens in a new tab) explains that its leaves contain lawsone, a copper-colored dye that binds to the protein in skin, hair and nails. In 2024, UNESCO added henna rituals and practices (opens in a new tab), nominated by 16 Arab states, to its list of the world's intangible cultural heritage. UNESCO describes henna as a symbol of joy that is used at celebrations such as births and weddings, with traditions passed down in families through watching and hands-on practice.

A note on meanings

There is no single dictionary of henna symbols. Meanings shift between regions, religions, families and individual artists, and many designs are chosen simply because they are lovely. Below, we share what museums, cultural organizations and practitioners have documented, and we say so when a meaning is uncertain. If you are drawing or wearing henna from a tradition that is not your own, a little curiosity and credit go a long way.

Paisley: the teardrop with a curled tip

The paisley may be the best-known henna shape. According to the RISD Museum (opens in a new tab), the motif is called a buta or boteh in India and Persia, and Westerners have described its variants as a cone, cypress, pine, mango or teardrop. Its origins are debated. One theory traces it to a wing or leaf form in ancient Near Eastern art that became a cypress or tree-of-life motif; another links it to a single flower flanked by leaves in Persian art.

The shape was famously woven into Kashmir shawls. A Victoria and Albert Museum (opens in a new tab) record describes one shawl's border as a row of "buta or paisley-shaped floral bouquets" and notes that the Mughals introduced the first floral motifs into shawl designs. The English name came later, from Paisley, a town in Scotland that produced imitation shawls.

On a coloring page, try treating each paisley as a frame for petals, scallops and fine lines. In a Smithsonian Journeys (opens in a new tab) article, a Jaipur folklorist lists "mango or paisley" among the common Indian henna motifs.

Peacocks

That same Jaipur folklorist names the peacock, or mor, as a classic Indian motif, and a henna artist interviewed for the article lists peacocks among the hallmarks of Indian designs. The author also points out that these paisley, peacock and floral motifs repeat across Indian art, from woven saris and block-print textiles to temple sculpture and rangoli patterns. Peacocks are fun to draw because the long neck forms a graceful curve and the tail can be built from repeating teardrops. When you color one, try deep blues and greens on the body with a contrasting color in each tail "eye."

Lotus flowers

The lotus is also on the Jaipur folklorist's list of common Indian henna motifs, and it carries symbolic weight in Buddhist art. The Ashmolean Museum (opens in a new tab) notes that in Buddhism the lotus stands for purity and enlightenment, because it pushes up through muddy water and is pristine when it opens. To draw or color one, try a fan of layered, pointed petals, which also makes a striking centerpiece for a palm design.

Vines, leaves and flowers

Climbing vines tie a design together. The Smithsonian article lists the bela, or creeper vine, among traditional Indian motifs, and describes how a single palm can hold rain clouds, flowers, peacocks, lovers, climbing vines and water, all intertwined into one pattern. Florals matter in other traditions too: Morocco World News (opens in a new tab) reports that northern Morocco emphasizes floral and leafy designs. When you color vines, a slightly darker shade along one edge of each leaf adds instant depth.

Mandalas and circles

A circle in the middle of the palm turns up in more than one henna tradition. The Smithsonian article describes a traditional South Indian design of a large circle on the palm surrounded by smaller circles, with the fingertips capped in henna. In the United Arab Emirates, Gulf News (opens in a new tab) describes a traditional design called Al Robian, or "the coin," a circle in the center of the palm.

Many henna centerpieces are mandala-like, though not all carry religious meaning. In its original sense, the Rubin Museum (opens in a new tab) describes a mandala as a symmetrical diagram arranged around a center, usually built from concentric circles and squares, which in Tantric Buddhism guides visualization meditation.

Dots, lines and geometric fillers

Small fillers such as dots, lines and scallops help connect the larger motifs on a henna page. The Smithsonian article explains that most designs start with a circle, with petals drawn around it and then filled in with straight lines. Geometry shapes whole styles, too. Gulf News describes an Emirati design called Al Baitan, a square split diagonally into four small triangles, and Morocco World News lists diamond-like shapes among typical Moroccan motifs. These fillers are mostly about rhythm and texture, so they are perfect for practicing tiny, careful coloring.

Regional styles, described carefully

Style labels are loose, artists borrow freely, and many people mix traditions. With that in mind, here is how sources describe some well-known approaches:

• Indian and South Asian styles. A henna artist quoted by Smithsonian Journeys says Indian designs feature Radha-Krishna, peacocks and floral motifs, and the article describes a Rajasthan artist who specializes in bridal designs reaching up to the elbows and knees. The Natural History Museum notes that the Mughal Empire used henna patterns at weddings and festivals and that India is credited with popularizing mehndi today.
• Arabic styles. The same artist describes the Arabic design as "linear with big flowers" with "lots of empty spaces." She names Indo-Arabic fusion, which combines geometric triangles with flowers, as a third trend.
• Gulf traditions. Gulf News lists traditional Emirati designs such as Al Rawayeb, which covers the fingertips, and Gamsa, "the dip," in which the whole hand is covered in plain henna with no details. Elders interviewed for the piece recalled that women did not traditionally apply henna to the back of the hand.
• Moroccan styles. Morocco World News writes that Moroccan henna has roots in Amazigh culture and leans toward geometric patterns, with bolder designs in the south. It lists the eye, the hamsa and diamond shapes as typical motifs.

From paper to skin: a quick safety note

If coloring henna pages inspires you to try the real thing, choose your paste carefully. The FDA (opens in a new tab) explains that henna typically produces a brown, orange-brown or reddish-brown tint, and that products sold as "black henna" often contain PPD, a coal-tar hair dye ingredient that can cause dangerous skin reactions in some people. For more, see our bridal mehndi placement guide.

Try it

• Practice paisleys, vines and mandalas with free henna coloring pages.
• Focus on one shape with free paisley coloring pages.
• Color free sample pages from Henna Design Inspiration.
• See finished designs for inspiration in our bridal henna design ideas.