How reliable is a tattoo symbol meaning list?
A symbol's meaning in a tattoo is a cultural interpretation, not a rule. The same animal or flower can stand for one thing in Greek myth, another in Chinese tradition and a third on social media, so tattoo meanings differ from culture to culture. Treat any list, this one included, as a starting point.
Where a reading has a documented origin, the sections below name it, so you can judge whether it fits your own reason. Others, such as the lone wolf or the butterfly as freedom, are modern readings that wearers have settled on, and the text says so.
When two readings pull in opposite directions, as they do for the snake and the wolf, that is normal. Choose the one that is true for you and be ready to explain it in a sentence.
- Myth and religion: the phoenix, the lotus, Medusa
- Heraldry and state symbols: the lion, the dragon
- Customs and rituals: the red spider lily at Japanese graves
- Modern movements: the semicolon, started in 2013
Which tattoo symbols mean strength?
The lion, the wolf, the dragon, the sword and the samurai are common symbols of strength, and each often stands for a different kind. The lion for courage and kingship, the wolf for loyalty to a pack, the dragon for power or luck depending on the culture, the sword for readiness to defend, and the samurai for discipline and service.
Pick by the kind of strength you mean. Courage under pressure suits a lion, staying strong with people beside you suits a wolf, and quiet discipline suits a samurai. If you mean strength gained after a hard time, the rebirth symbols further down may fit better.
- Lion: a symbol of courage and monarchy in Iranian mythology. A roaring lion is often read as facing something frightening
- Wolf: a pack is a mated pair and their young, and the average pack in North America is 8 wolves. A wolf often stands for loyalty as much as toughness. The lone wolf is a modern image that wearers read as independence
- Dragon: in the Yuan dynasty the five-clawed dragon was for the emperor only and the four-clawed one for princes and nobles. The Chinese dragon also stands for prosperity and good luck, while the Western dragon is a creature a hero fights, so it reads as fierce
- Sword: a fighter's tool, which wearers often read as courage and a readiness to defend the people they care about
- Samurai: professional warriors of pre-industrial Japan who served lords and trained in swordsmanship from a young age. The figure often stands for loyalty and discipline
Which tattoo symbols mean love and family?
The rose is the classic tattoo symbol of love. In ancient Greece it was closely tied to the goddess Aphrodite, and a red rose often stands for true love. Wolves and lions carry the family side of love: a wolf pack is a family, and people often choose a lioness with cubs for a protective parent.
Color changes a rose. Roses carry 6 color codes: red for true love, white for innocence or purity, yellow for friendship, orange for passion, blue for mystery and black for death. Few people know these codes, so if the color carries your meaning, expect most viewers to read the rose as love and tell your artist why you chose it.
- Rose with thorns: the Song of Songs compares a people to a rose staying beautiful among thorns, and wearers often read thorns as beauty that can defend itself, or love that hurts
- Rose with a name, initials or a date: a love token or a memorial, depending on who it is for
- Wolf pack: a partner, children or a close circle of friends
- Lioness with cubs: a parent, or the wearer's own family
Which tattoo symbols mean loss and remembrance?
The skull, the red spider lily, the semicolon and a rose with a name or date are common choices for loss. Each remembers differently: the skull reminds the wearer that life ends, the spider lily belongs to Japanese graves and funerals, and the semicolon marks someone who is still here or someone lost to suicide.
Memento mori is a Latin phrase meaning remember that you must die, and the skull has been its main image in European art for centuries. A skull with a date or flowers carries that tradition into a memorial. Many wearers also choose a skull for defiance, with no death behind it, so it is not always about loss.
The red spider lily is called higanbana in Japan, the flower of higan, a Buddhist observance of 7 days, 3 before and 3 after each equinox, when families visit graves. Red spider lilies are commonly planted on and around grave sites and used at funerals, so in Japan the flower carries a heavier meaning than its looks suggest. Know that before you choose it as decoration.
Project Semicolon, founded in 2013, 10 years after the death of its founder's father by suicide, describes the semicolon as a mark that an author could have ended a sentence and chose not to. If you are in the US and struggling, you can call or text 988 to reach the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline. Elsewhere, findahelpline.com lists crisis lines by country, or call your local crisis line.
- Skull: memento mori, a memorial or defiance
- Red spider lily: farewell and the dead, in Japanese custom
- Semicolon: survival, solidarity, or memory of someone lost to suicide
- Butterfly: the Greek word psyche means soul and also butterfly, so some people choose one for someone who died
Which tattoo symbols mean rebirth and new starts?
The phoenix, the butterfly, the lotus and the snake are common symbols of starting again. The phoenix gets new life by rising from the ashes of its predecessor, a butterfly changes from caterpillar to winged adult, a lotus grows out of mud into a clean bloom, and a snake sheds its skin and leaves the old one behind.
People tend to match the symbol to the kind of ending. The phoenix suits something that burned down, such as a divorce or a lost business. The butterfly suits a change of identity or a recovery. The lotus suits a hard stretch the wearer does not want to hide, since the mud is where it grew from. The snake suits leaving an old version of yourself.
- Phoenix: renewal after destruction. Herodotus reported that Egyptians said it appears once in 500 years. The Chinese fenghuang is a different bird
- Lotus: in Buddhism it stands for purity of body, speech and mind, rising above murky water
- Snake: because snakes shed their skin, they symbolize rebirth, transformation, immortality and healing in many traditions
- Ouroboros: a snake with its tail in its mouth, read as eternity and endless renewal
- Moth: the same metamorphosis as a butterfly, which some wearers choose for change that happened in private
Which tattoo symbols mean protection?
Medusa, the snake, the lion and the sword are common protection symbols. The Greeks put the gorgoneion, Medusa's head, on shields, temple roofs and Athena's aegis. It is thought to have had an apotropaic, meaning protective, function.
Ask what you are protecting before you pick. A symbol for guarding another person, such as a lion at a door, reads differently from one that guards you, such as Medusa.
- Medusa: a protective charm in ancient Greece, found on shields, temple roofs and Athena's aegis
- Snake: guardianship is one of the values given to the serpent, and a reared snake facing outward is often read as a guardian
- Lion: lion statues guard temple gateways in several traditions, such as at Borobudur in Indonesia
- Sword: pointed up it is often read as guard, pointed down as a weapon laid to rest. Neither is a fixed rule
Which tattoo symbols mean freedom?
The butterfly, the lone wolf and the Sagittarius arrow are symbols many wearers choose for freedom. These are modern readings, not ancient ones: a butterfly never holds still, a lone wolf goes its own way, and the Sagittarius glyph is an arrow for the sign of the archer. Sagittarius, 1 of the 12 zodiac signs, runs from November 22 to December 21 and is usually drawn as an archer or a centaur.
Small and light designs suit this theme. A few butterflies in flight along an arm or a single arrow on the wrist say freedom without a long explanation. Note that a lone wolf is, in real life, usually a young wolf that has left its family to start a new pack, a detail some wearers like.
- Butterfly: wearers often read it as lightness, a lighter time in life, or not carrying everything so heavily
- Lone wolf: read as independence and going your own way
- Sagittarius arrow: the zodiac sign of the archer, a simple glyph that reads clearly even when small. Freedom is a wearer's reading of the arrow, not part of the sign's traditional description
How do I pick a symbol whose meaning fits me?
Write down why you want the tattoo in one sentence, then pick the symbol that carries that sentence, not the one with the longest meaning list. A symbol chosen for a reason you can say out loud will still make sense in 10 years. Our guide to tattoos with meaning walks through that choice step by step.
Before you commit, read the second meaning. Many symbols here have one, and some are the opposite of the first. Check where your symbol comes from, and ask whether a tradition limits who may wear it. A few minutes of reading now costs less than explaining a tattoo for the next 30 years.