The Islamic Imagery Project: Visual Motifs in Jihadi Internet Propaganda report identifies recurring themes - particularly 100 motifs - in radical Islamic imagery that were collected of several years by the Combating Terrorism Center (CTC) at West Point. CTC developed a glossary entry of these motifs grounded in a deep reading of Islamic history, culture, language, and experience (Brachman and Kennedy Boudali 2006, 6).

The authors (2006) claim that the motifs used in the contemporary photographic images are often based on ancient traditions and historical cultural references (7).

The authors (2006) further asser that there is still much work to be done "in order to comprehensively capture and catalogue the full range of jihadi visual propaganda, particularly in regards to monitoring the frequency of existing motifs and identifying the incidence of new motifs. The rate at which particular themes become more or less popular may reflect broader changes in ideology and orientation of the global jihad movement and its sympathizers" (7).

The researchers of this report believe that this analysis would facilitate the understanding of jihadi propaganda in the counter-terrorism field and the understanding of terrorism-related issues while creating links between divers professional fields such as history, communication, and counter-terrorism. As suggested by the researchers this report served me as a major reference point for my research and in attempting to understand the photographs of the Islamic State and the symbolism of the elements the group has used.