Design AtlasThe name comes from French "quatre feuilles," four leaves. It's most associated with Gothic architectural tracery from the 13th century onward, but the underlying geometry of four overlapping circles is a shape several traditions arrived at independently, including Islamic geometric ornament and European heraldry.
In architecture it often appears as a single motif — the shape of one window — but as a surface pattern it's tiled repeatedly along a diamond (ogee) lattice. The quatrefoil you see on wallpaper or upholstery is almost always this repeating version.
The structure is just four same-sized circles overlapping around a centre, north-south-east-west or on the diagonals. In SVG, four circles sit in one <pattern> tile with semi-transparent fill, so the overlaps darken naturally through alpha stacking — no shape-boolean cutting or merging required.
When to use
Use for wallpaper/upholstery texture and heritage or luxury brand background patterns.