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Falcon Tattoo Designs - Domesticated falcons serving as the hunter's companion have been around since the Iron Age. While 'in training', they are fitted with a leather hood. This 'hooded falcon' has come to symbolize 'the hope of liberty'... more

Family Crest Tattoo Designs (Coat of Arms Tattoos, Clan Tattoos, Heraldry Tattoos) - For hundreds of years, perhaps even thousands, one of the most popular ways for people to celebrate their family ties and heritage has been to get tattoos of their family crests, coat of arms and other symbols that recognize their family surname and history. In Great Britain, whether you are English, Scottish, Irish or Welsh and in most of the countries of Europe individuals can often trace their family history and surname to a particular stylized design that at one time would have decorated shields and banners as a method of identifying individuals going into battle... more

Fairy and Fairie Tattoo Designs - The Fairy as a tattoo design can be as simple as a take-off on the often overpowering presence of corporate America in pop-culture, think Tinkerbell and Disney creatures, or it harkens back to a rich history of story, myth and folklore. Fairies in literature are often the personification of human wishes and desire in the form of little people with magical powers. As a tattoo design they can be symbols of... more

Feather Tattoo Designs - Feathers are usually associated with birds or wings or Native American imagery in most tattoo designs. A single feather as a tattoo design may represent or symbolize the ability to take flight, either spiritually, emotionally or creatively.

Some feathers are so distinctive in their shape and size that they are easily identified with a specific species of bird, such as the feathers of the Eagle, Peacock, Ostrich Plume, and... more

Fire Dragon Tattoo Designs - Of all the mythical creatures, the dragon is the most universal and is prominently featured in hundreds of cultures. Perhaps for that reason, its meaning as a symbol is not always consistent.

In the East the dragon is generally considered to be beneficent creature, where as in the West it's more often a primordial enemy with whom combat is considered the ultimate supreme test. Only he who conquers the dragon becomes a hero, according to myth and legend. In conjuring up this most horrific symbol, we have gone back a long way to the dinosaur prototype, and often imagine it breathing fire... more

Fish Tattoo Designs - For many of the world's ancient cultures the fish was the symbol of Water, Mother, and Great Goddess. Early myth relates that the fish was the vulva of Isis, who, taking the form of the fish, swallowed the penis of Osiris. The fish then stood for the feminine and her reproductive powers. The Celts also used the fish symbol as representing female sexuality and birth. In Hindu culture, the fish was a marriage symbol. When a bride first enters the house of her husband, she does so with a fish in her hand. Two fish, swimming in opposite directions, is... more

Flags & Patriotic Tattoos - Few symbols are as powerful at identifying an individual as belonging to a particular tribe or group than a tattoo; and there is perhaps no greater symbol identifying a sovereign nation than its flag, so it should come as no surprise that flags are extraordinarily popular as tattoo designs.

Flag tattoo designs are a powerful way for an individual to symbolize their love, devotion, patriotism and sense of national pride for their country.

Flag tattoos can be straightforward renditions of a countries flag or they can be heavily stylized. In many cases, flag tattoos are designed to show the colours of the national flag within an outline... more

Flames / Fire Tattoo - As a tattoo design Flames may represent transformation, destruction, change, passion, a beacon of light and knowledge and serve as a warning to the wearer. Flames, fires and burning have often been used in religious rites and symbolism, as the smoke of the fire wafts towards the heavens it was thought to bear the wishes and prayers of the faithful. An object or sacrifice that is consumed in a fire becomes flames, heat and smoke and all that remains afterwards is ash. The destructive power and ability of fire to destroy much in it's path has made it both feared and revered. For while a flame may destroy something if it is not controlled, fire also gives off heat to ward off the cold, and light, to hold back the darkness... more

Flamingo Tattoo - The flamingo is the unofficial symbol of Florida, and of travel to tropical destinations and leisure in general. The flamingo is a status symbol for trailer park residents throughout America, and in it's plastic, lawn-ornament incarnation, is the Icon of kitsch and bad taste par excellent.

Ironically, Florida had hunted its native flamingos to extinction in the 1880s for meat and feathers... more

Fleur-de-lis Tattoo Designs - The fleur-de-lis (or fleur-de-lys, plural: fleurs-de-lis. Translated from French as "lily flower") is a stylized design of either an iris or a lily that is now used purely decoratively as well as symbolically, or it may be "at one and the same time political, dynastic, artistic, emblematic and symbolic", especially in heraldry. While the fleur-de-lis has appeared on countless European coats of arms and flags over the centuries, it is particularly associated with the French monarchy on a historical context, and nowadays with... more

Flower Tattoo Designs - Flowers as tattoo designs and symbols can be far more than just pretty pictures on pretty girls. Flowers are the embodiment of nature and concise symbols of the cycle of birth, life, procreation, death and rebirth. Specific flowers have come to represent a myriad of different beliefs in different cultures. In the East, the lotus flower has tremendous spiritual significance, as does the rose in the West. Similarly, the tremendous spectrum of colours present in flowers can have symbolic importance; white for purity, red for passion, or to... more

Four-Leaf Clover Tattoo Designs - As tattoo designs and symbols, the shamrock and four-leaf clover are very popular with Celts of Irish descent. In fact it is hard to imagine a St. Patrick's Day without Shamrocks and Four-Leaf Clovers to accompany Leprechauns and green beer.

The Shamrock and Four-Leaf Clover are universal symbols of Ireland all over the world, a symbol of being of Irish descent and in the case of the four-leaf clover, a potent symbol of luck or good fortune. Interestingly enough, both shamrocks and four-leaf clovers are one in the same - with a crucial difference... more

Fox Symbols & Designs - The fox is a fascinating symbol, a cunning predator whose small size makes it both predator and prey in the great pyramid of the hunters and the hunted. Not at the apex as a killer, but never to be taken lightly as a carnivore or omnivore. Shape shifter, cunning trickster, and traveller of the twilight hours, the fox emerges as a symbol of magic and luck, both good and bad. Men have often identified with the fox and its cousin, the coyote. Never as powerful or as omnipotent as apex predators like the wolf, the bear, the lion and... more

Frog Symbols & Designs - a tattoo design that cuts across many cultures. As a member of the animal clan, the Frog is seen as a teacher. A lunar creature that resonates with water, it also lives on land. A cold-blooded creature, Frog possesses an extremely sensitive skin which shamans consider magical. In many cultures, the Frog is associated with the ability to jump from one state of consciousness to another. The frog is a symbol of... more

Fruit Tattoos Designs & Symbols - Fruit is nature's miracle, the botanical ovary, the vessel that holds the seeds to future life. Little surprise, then, that fruit often serves as a prominent symbol of abundance, fertility and prosperity. Think no further than a Cornucopia, or Horn of Plenty. Potent symbols of an abundant Harvest. In Greek mythology, the Cornucopia, or Horn of Plenty is the horn of the goat that suckled Zeus, the supreme Greek deity, which broke off and became filled, indeed, overflowed with copious amounts of fruit.... more

Full Rigged Ship Tattoo Design - A tattoo of a full-rigged sailing ship, with the words, "Homeward Bound" is one of the most recognizable of all maritime and nautical tattoos.

There is perhaps no tattoo design more associated with sailors and seamen that the tattoo of a full-rigged sailing ship under full sail, it's bow splitting the waves, clouds and seabirds in the background. Most of the sailing ships depicted in these tattoos were Clipper Ships. These tattoos were often very large and took place of pride on a sailor's back or chest, with smaller versions on upper arms and shoulders.

A rather macabre variation of the Full-Rigged Ship tattoo, was the "Sailor's Grave" tattoo... more 

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