Just like today, nautical pin-up girls, mermaids, and hula girls were all synonymous with the sailing lifestyle. To ease the separation, and to remind themselves of what they had left behind, waiting for their return, tattoos of women and names were popular. Women were not found aboard ships, so sailors often left their wives, girlfriends, and lovers behind in port.
BLACK CLIPPER SHIP TATTOO FULL
Featuring an anchor, life preserver, eagle, and sinking ship, this tattoo represented those that were lost at sea, as well as the full extent of the dangers of living the sailor lifestyle.Īnother great idea is Fantastic tribal tattoos for women hold fast knuckle tattooĪnother protective tattoo was the knuckle tattoo featuring the words “hold fast.” Sailors would get these words tattooed on their hands as a constant reminder to hold tight to the deck ropes and be vigilant, or risk falling overboard, getting hurt, or death. When a ship or sailor is lost, the “sailor grave” tattoo might be used to commemorate or memorialize them. The anchor, however, was also incorporated into less hopeful nautical theme tattoos. Without an anchor, the ship would be lost, with no hope of finding the right direction. Like the North Star, the anchor could provide stability in turbulent and changing water. Anchors were also popular nautical tattoo motifs at the time. It guided them through physical and emotional confusion, always leading them back home to friends and loved ones. The nautical star represents a fixed point – a point of reference – which the sailors could rely on to keep them safe and out of harm’s way. The North Star design is often combined with the compass rose which is a second symbol of navigation and of finding one’s direction. You would love this article: Killer cover-up tattoo ideas that will leave you spellbound It is a constant in an ever-changing environment. The North Star does not move and it does not change. north star tattooīecause the North Star is so pivotal in sea navigation, and because many sailors throughout time have relied on the star to guide them home safely, this tattoo design is believed to represent the North Star and, as such, the North Pole. Good read: Hot Neck Tattoos ideas for this year Nautical star tattoos have recently become very trendy. The juxtaposition illustrates that although these men, the sailors, long to go home, they are enticed by the beauty of the ocean. Legends maintain that mermaids often lured men to their doom. Contrastingly, the image is often paired with a mermaid, a seductive creature who is part fish and part woman. The design shows a clipper ship, with sails billowing, slicing through choppy waves and surrounded by a banner that reads “Homeward Bound.” This ship is racing towards shore, and nothing will stop it from returning to port. Similarly, the “Homeward Bound” tattoo was a design that urged the sailor homeward. Because of this tale, the pig and rooster were often depicted as running or fleeing. Because neither pigs nor roosters are adept swimmers, the superstitious believed that these creatures would hurry the sailor back to the ship and safely back to shore in order to return to safe, dry land. According to legend, the pig and rooster protected a sailor from drowning.
Perhaps one of the more intriguing designs, and also the least common today, sailors at the time got a pig design tattooed on one foot and a rooster on the other.
Sailors adopted good luck charm tattoos in order to keep themselves safe and to aid them in a safe return to port. Sailing the world and exploring uncharted, and often dangerous, the land was a treacherous job. Tattoos quickly became an integral part of sailing culture, and maritime or nautical symbols became the first trends in modern tattooing, most of which continue today in varying degrees. 1.5.1 Let`s see a gallery with nautical tattoos boys! 🙂įrom port to port, sailors introduced the art of tattooing to a new area.1.5 Mermaids stood for the draw of life at sea, despite all of its dangers.1.4 Women were not found aboard ships, so sailors often left their wives, girlfriends, and lovers behind in port.1.3 Anchors were also popular nautical tattoo motifs at the time.
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