Tehran's color plan was carried out during 1990s with the primary purpose of restoring color consistency particularly to the historic center of the city. In fact, it attempted to bring unity and avoid color pollution to the cityscape. However, it seems to have been neglectful of many other factors, including orientation, legibility, and the mental image of the city. Further analysis shows that it fails to address figure-ground perception, as a sign of hierarchy and order, on the urban scale. Hence, this article aims to recover figure-ground perception with respect to Brandi's theory of restoration as well as the constituent elements of the image of the city. The study makes a contribution to the field of urban design/planning, as it offers important insights into a critical aspect of city color plan and cityscape.