Tattoo Designs & Symbols provides tattoo meanings, overviews and explanations of some of the most popular tattoo designs in the world today. Tattoo symbols & designs on this page all start with the letters U & V.

Tattoo Symbol Index - A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

Umbrella Tattoos - The umbrella is an interesting tattoo design. At its most basic level, an umbrella is a symbol, or symbolic, of 'a temporary shelter', or 'a small amount of protection'. Umbrella itself, literally means, 'a little shade'.... more

Uncle Sam Tattoos - Uncle Sam is the national personification of the United States and sometimes more specifically of the American government, with the first usage of the term dating from the War of 1812. He is depicted as a serious elderly white man with white hair and a goatee beard, and dressed in clothing that recalls the... more

Unicorn Tattoo - The Unicorn was a popular tattoo in the late sixties and through the seventies, no doubt in part to its symbolic representation of a utopian world of peace, magic and spiritual mysticism, where all things are possible. Other popular 'magical' tattoos of that period were dragons, winged horses such as Pegasus and a wide assortment of Wizards, Sorcerers and other Magicians, conjuring up the wide popularity of Tolkien's Lord of the Rings Trilogy. The unicorn is a popular creature of our fantasy that symbolizes beauty, mystery, nobility, strength, and a... more

US Air Force Tattoos - The US Air Force was the Aeronautical Division of the US Army Signal Corps before it broke away in 1947. Being the new kids in the barracks, pilots don't have the long tattoo tradition behind them, but that hasn't stopped them from adopting the obvious symbol of power and freedom, the bald eagle.... more

US Army Tattoos - The United States Army is the branch of the United States Military responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military and is one of seven uniformed services. The modern Army has its roots in the ... more

US Marine Corps Tattoos - The United States Marine Corps (USMC) is a branch of the United States armed forces responsible for providing force projection from the sea, using the mobility of the United States Navy to rapidly deliver combined-arms task forces. It is one of seven uniformed services of the United States.... more

US Navy Tattoos - The US NAVY is synonymous with sailors and their tattoos, for obvious historical reasons. Their long voyages to exotic lands -- and the stories and souvenirs they brought home -- continued to amaze people worldwide, until in the early 1900's the tattoo craze hit a peak unequalled for almost a hundred years... more

Vampire Tattoos - The Vampire has come a long way from the original 1922 silent film cinematic portrayal of "Nosferatu" (an adaptation of the Bram Stoker novel, Dracula), as a single-mindedly evil blood-sucker to today's cool, edgy, good-looking night stalker with a conscience. Once bad, he's now 'bad!' Once a symbol of death - well, the vampire is still that. Now death, and the Vampire, from Buffy the Vampire Slayer's attraction to the series vampire character of Angel, to the Wesley Snipes Blade Trilogy, to the novel and film, Twilight, are the very heights of popular culture cool... more

Venus Tattoo - The mirror of the Roman Goddess Venus is often used to represent the female sex.

The Venus symbol may also refer to:

In biology, a female.
In mythology, the Roman goddess Venus or the Greek goddess Aphrodite.
In astronomy, the planet Venus

The astronomical symbol for Venus is the same as that used in biology for the female sex, a stylized representation of the goddess Venus' hand mirror: a circle with a small cross underneath. The Venus symbol also represents femininity, and in ancient alchemy stood for the metal copper. Alchemists constructed the symbol from a circle (representing spirit) above a cross (representing matter).

Looking for female Tattoo Design Ideas?

Viking Tattoos - The Viking's left few written records behind - but their surviving artwork shows they had many important designs and symbols. The original meaning of most Viking symbols remain a mystery to this day, but many of these symbols are still popular today. Viking symbols range from complex knotwork designs to ancient pictograms like crosses, swastikas and triskeles (these were swirl designs with three arms or triangle like symbols).... more

Viking Runes - An alphabet of runes existed among northern Germanic tribes long before the Viking Age began, but it was the Scandinavian Vikings who, toward the end of the first millennium, left the most lasting and potent evidence of this angular set of symbols.... more

Virgin Mary Tattoos - The Virgin Mary has long been a popular religious tattoo design, particularly with women who wish to express their faith through the display of a feminine symbol.  Many early tattoo designs of Mary were copies of icons and paintings widely found in churches.  Mary was also a popular image among early seafarers, as a reminder not only to be virtuous, but also as a symbol of wives, mothers and sweethearts who waited in far off home ports.  Life at sea was often tough, dangerous, and for long months at sea bereft of any female presence, lonely.  The Virgin Mary was a symbol of the life left behind and an amulet of... more

Virgo Zodiac Tattoos - The Western astrological sign of Virgo is occupied by the Sun from August 23 to September 22 in the tropical zodiac and currently September 17 to October 17 in the sidereal zodiac, when the Sun is approximately in the constellation of Virgo.

In tropical astrology it symbolises the fertility and abundance of harvest time. In sidereal astrology it is associated with a number of fertility goddesses including Ishtar, Isis, Cybele, Mary, Mother of Jesus... more

Vishnu Tattoos - Vishnu the Preserver - symbol of mercy and goodness and protector of the universe - fulfills one of the three cosmic functions in the Hindu religion. Vishnu, along with Brahma 'the creator', and Shiva 'the destroyer', symbolize the three projections of the Absolute, and reflect the three facets of human existence - birth, life, death.

Wearing a tattoo of Vishnu - or any of the Hindu holy triad - is to acknowledge and perhaps even celebrate your ability to entertain the apparent contradictions of free will, fate, and... more