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60 Eagle Tattoo Ideas That’ll Blow You Away

Eagle tattoos have been a very popular tattoo design choice for quite some time. Although perhaps better known for its association with American history, the eagle tattoo was significant in many cultures.

Eagles are majestic creatures with their unique style of hunting, keen vision, sharp sense, and long flights across the sky. And all of these qualities are translated into the eagle tattoo. In history, the eagle tattoo has been a symbol of power, freedom, and even immortality in different cultures. The eagle is also been incorporated into many countries’ military symbols and their flags.

In this article, we’ll discuss with you the meanings that the eagle tattoo may symbolize in different cultures. And if you are to get one of these tattoos, look no more. Because we will also give you a list of ideas for getting your first eagle tattoo on your body.

Why wait then? Let’s start.

What Does the Eagle Tattoo Really mean?

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@captain_tat2

Due to the long list of qualities of an eagle, the eagle tattoo over the years in history has given many different meanings and interpretations.

The eagle is thought to be a bird of the heavens in some cultures. It’s an excellent hunter and flier. And for that, the eagle tattoo has often been associated with freedom, power, and independence.

Again, for the Native American people the eagle was considered the messenger bird for the gods. So you can also interpret the eagle tattoo as a symbol of wisdom and enlightenment as the native Americans thought.

Similarly, in Christianity, the eagle is thought to be a divine bird capable of reincarnation. So the eagle tattoo in Christianity also is a symbol of divinity and Christianity.

So, depending on your culture and perspective the eagle tattoo may mean different things to you. If you are looking to get an eagle tattoo for you, you may choose to portray any of the meanings associated with the eagle tattoo.

Or, you can also just get the tattoo done for the aesthetics.

Striking Eagle Tattoo Designs That Starts Conversations

As a very popular option among both newcomers and veterans of tattoo users, we have seen many different variations of the eagle tattoo. The many variations of the tattoo have been said to represent different things depending on the design.

There are designs with all sorts of color options incorporating both vivid colors and monochrome options. There are even some abstract art designs surrounding the eagle tattoo. Also, there are options to get the tattoo on different parts of your body.

With all the designs out there, you may be wondering which design to get if you are looking for an eagle tattoo.

Don’t worry. We’ve got you. We have gathered a list of options for the eagle tattoo design for you that will satisfy your needs if you’re either a newbie or a pro.

@niamhtattoo

If we are talking about the most common eagle tattoos that we are asked to do, it would be the traditional eagle tattoo. It is an iconic tattoo design that’s been loved by many. This is mainly because of its beautiful colors and its association with American history.

The traditional Eagle tattoo mostly incorporates the bald eagle in all its glory with its outstretched wings representing freedom, strength, and American patriotism. The most common designs also incorporate banners, strong bright colors, and great details.

This tattoo design stood the test of time as a very popular idea among enthusiasts, military veterans, and youngsters. The most common placement for the tattoo would be on the chest, arm, and on your shoulders. But you can always get creative and get the tattoo done on different parts of your body.

@tattoosbyharo    

@ride_or_die_tat2_studio

Like the American symbolism with the bald eagle, Mexica also associates the eagle with strength and courage and considers the eagle as a part of their heritage. This is a very popular tattoo among Mexicans as they show off their culture and identity through the tattoo. Thus the tattoo often incorporates elements like the Mexican flag and Aztec symbols.

The most common tattoo designs for the Mexican eagle tattoo would be the eagle on a cactus and a snake on the talons of the eagle. This image is significant as it is associated with the founding of Mexico city giving it a symbolic meaning of the good triumphing over the evil.

As the tattoo design associates bright colors and some great shading works, the tattoo is most often done on body parts that are more visible. So this tattoo is best done on the wrist, the forearm, or the shoulder. But if you want to rock a bigger tattoo design,  you can always go for a detailed design on your back.

@dark_tower_tattoo

If you want to make a bold statement or show off your strength and courage, you should go for the eagle tattoo on the chest. You can work with a large area with bright colors and shades, and you can customize the design however you like. Most importantly you can add other elements that complement the design.

As the chest is a big canvas for doing your tattoo, you can always do some great details and colors on the tattoo. But although you are getting a bigger workspace, you should take note that chest tattoos can be really painful as the chest is a sensitive area. So, you might have to get the tattoo done in multiple sessions.

But despite this problem, the chest eagle tattoo can be a majestic piece with the proper color choice and a skilled artist.

@frankieraytattoos

If we ask you to point to one thing that is connected to American patriotism, the bald eagle would be one of the first things that will come to your mind. So if you are a military veteran or a patriot who loves their country, you can go for the bald eagle tattoo to show off your love.

The tattoo can be customized with different colors and elements like the American flag or some other symbols like 1776 elements and flowers.

For the tattoo, you can go for a realistic color scheme or even a traditional color combo.

Although the bald eagle can be placed anywhere on the body, the most popular placement for the bird would be on the chest or the upper arm to show off the design.

But whatever design you do, just make sure to keep the design respectful to the American culture.

@tnttattoobali

@paranoic_tattoo

The forearm is a great place to rock an eagle tattoo because of its visibility and versatility. If you want you can always hide the tattoo with your attire. But if you want, you can flaunt the eagle with a half-sleeved shirt or a sleeveless one.

One of the benefits of the forearm tattoo would be that it is not as painful as many other parts of the body due to a moderate amount of fat and muscle. So you can do different colors and design combos on the tattoo depending on your choice.

Although a forearm eagle tattoo would look spectacular, one of the drawbacks of getting one is that the forearm is regularly exposed to the outer world and sunlight. So there is a possibility that the tattoo will fade over time. So you should take some extra precautions and care after getting the tattoo.

@jonvanwhalen

The small eagle tattoo would be perfect for those who love minimalistic designs yet want to show a powerful message of strength and courage. You can do the design in a very minimalist fashion or do a colored and realistic design.

One benefit of this tattoo would be that it can be placed anywhere due to its small size and you can easily cover up the tattoo later if need be. Due to the small size, it is also quicker and less painful and normally you can get one in one sitting.

This is often a more affordable option in comparison to other eagle tattoo designs. This can be a perfect design for an underboob or behind-the-ear tattoo.

@constantlycustom

@ozge.tattoo

If you want to show off the majestic beauty of the eagle and its wings, the back is the perfect place to do so. You can do some intricate designs for the eagle tattoo on the back because of a larger work area.

You can customize the tattoo with other elements like quotes, flags, and banners. And if you want, you can also do different poses for the bird, such as in flight, sitting, or with wings stretched. In these cases, you can add some mountains, trees, and other elements with the eagle.

You can make the tattoo realistic or even do it in the traditional color scheme. You can also hide the tattoo if need be with your attire if need be.

@chestolbc_pg2

@tattoo4udryden

The eagle feather tattoo is often seen as very symbolic of freedom. The eagle feather is often considered to be a connection with the spiritual giving it another layer of symbolism.

You can get the tattoo in multiple variations depending on your taste. It is a beautiful design that can be customized with beautiful colors and shading options.

You can get this tattoo on various parts of your body. Due to the adaptability of the tattoo, you can either get a simpler smaller feather tattoo on places like your wrists and fingers or you can get a detailed tattoo and place it on your forearms or legs as seen in the example photos.

But as an important symbol of the Mexican culture, please make sure to be respectful while choosing to do the eagle feather tattoo.

@bancrofttattoos

@dom_sylvain

The shoulder is a great place to do the eagle tattoo because you can easily extend the tattoo design to your sleeve and forearm or to your back. If you want a tattoo that is visible but can be easily hidden, you should look into this design.

As a big canvas, you can add different details to the eagle tattoo like other texts, quotes, or banners. You can even add symbols like the American flag, feathers, and arrows to personalize the design.

The benefit of the big workspace on the shoulder is that you will be able to incorporate the design into others if need be and you can always extend the design depending on what color and shading options you’ve chosen.

@inkscooltattoos

If you are into wings tattoos and are looking for something other than angel wings tattoos , you can check the eagle wings design as it stands out from the crowd. But if you want symbolism, the eagle wings represent freedom and rising above life’s problems and challenges.

You can do various styles and sizes and place them anywhere on the body depending on your choice. If you want you can do realistic colors, or even do an abstract design if that suits your taste better.

You can get the tattoo done anywhere on the body depending on the size you choose. You can either get the tattoo on your chest, back, or forearm if you want to show off the majestic beauty of the eagle wings.

@beztreztattoo

@vlexisruiz

The eagle tattoo on the neck is a very bold design to show off your fierceness, strength, and courage. You can get the tattoo with various styles and detailing on the neck, but most often the designs are more detailed to go with the bold positioning.

The tattoo is very visible and so you can customize the tattoo to properly reflect your personality. But as it is very visible, it is harder to cover up for occasions where you may not want to show off your tattoo.

But before getting an eagle tattoo on the neck, do proper background research as neck tattoos are often painful . So we’d suggest this only if you are a veteran.

@deepak_tattoos_indore

@tezp_tattooist

As one of the most visible places on the body to do a tattoo, the hand is a great place to do an amazing eagle tattoo. The hand tattoo often consists of a simple outline in black and often some speck of colors are added to add flair to the design.

You can add other graphics on the tattoo like mountains , snakes, or text to spice up the design. You can choose to do a very detailed design on your hand to show off your taste and personality.

But as hand tattoos are painful we would suggest you keep things simple if you are a newbie to the tattoo world.

@nanonicetattoos

Another great association of the eagle as a national symbol is the polish eagle tattoo. This tattoo consists of the signature polish white eagle to show off polish pride and patriotism as the white eagle is the national symbol of Poland.

You can place the Polish eagle tattoo anywhere on your body depending on how you want to show off your polish pride. But good places to do so are your chest, back, forearm, and shoulder.

You can also customize the tattoo size depending on where you are placing the tattoo and choose different poses for the eagle.

The Polish eagle shows off the connection of the wearer to the national symbol showing a great cultural value. But it can be misinterpreted by others. So be respectful when choosing the design.

@lynae_tatt00

One of the most common interpretations of the eagle tattoo is incorporating the American flag with the eagle tattoo. If you want to showcase your patriotism and love for America, you can choose to do this tattoo.

This design features the eagle with the American flag in various ways including the flag in the eagle’s talons and just the flag with the eagle on it. You can get the tattoo with realistic colors or just simple outlines. But realistic colors with this tattoo are more common.

You can get this tattoo in various shapes and sizes and place it on different parts of the body. But the most effective place for the tattoo would be the chest, back, and forearm to show off the love for America and the cultural roots of the wearer.

@supervisions_

The golden eagle is another iconic design that we have seen plenty of over the years. The golden eagle is a representative of power and freedom with its spread-up wings. The golden eagle is also often associated with determination and focus.

The golden eagle tattoo can be done in many different styles from realistic to abstract. But the most effective design choice for the golden eagle would be a realistic or a traditional color scheme.

You can get the tattoo anywhere on the body depending on your preference or the message you want to convey. But the golden eagle looks best if done on the forearms and chest due to the incredible detailing possible with the design.

@cruz_studiooftattoos

The Aztec eagle tattoo is becoming more and more popular among those who value Mexican culture. It is a unique design showing off the culture and heritage of the Aztecs and represents wisdom and fierceness.

The tattoo can look completely realistic or completely abstract depending on the color choice and the size you choose. But most often than not, the Aztec eagle is abstract and done with a monochrome color scheme.

If you want you can place a smaller tattoo on the wrist, behind the ear , or on the hand. But if you want to go big and detailed, you should do the tattoo on the shoulders or on the arm to show off this beautiful style.

@mcwhorters_ink

@samliesveld

The arm is another great place to do the eagle tattoo because you can easily expand the tattoo onto your shoulder or sleeve, or incorporate the eagle in another tattoo design on the sleeve. As the arm is also a big visible canvas, you can go crazy with the tattoo design.

To give the tattoo more flair you can add some other designs like the American flag, a snake, or some other symbols. You can also show the eagle in a flying state with a detailed wing design to make the tattoo pop more.

The tattoo can be personalized further with different colors to go with it. You can add realistic colors to make the eagle look more majestic. We’d suggest not using simpler colors or monochrome shades to stand out from the common designs on the arm.

@treyenglish

This tattoo is also known as the EGA tattoo popularized within the US marine corps. Similar to the bald eagle tattoo this tattoo consists of a bald eagle, a globe, and an anchor along with optional features.

The eagle anchor tattoo represents the fierceness of the marine corps and their courage while the globe represents their global presence. You can also customize the design with features like the American flag among other graphics.

You can do the tattoo anywhere on the body according to your preference. But it is best to do the tattoo on the arm, shoulder, or chest.

@arisearttattoo

The blood eagle tattoo is another history-inspired design. This particular design is inspired by Norse mythology. The tattoo takes its roots from the brutal execution where the victims’ ribs are pulled apart to form an eagle wing shape.

Although very graphic, this design can be interpreted as a symbol of Viking pride and strength . So depending on your needs, you can customize the design to be realistic or even abstract design.

You can do the tattoo on any part of the body. But similar to most eagle tattoo designs, this tattoo design is also best done on the chest or any other big canvas on the body. But if you want to showcase the awesome red and black color scheme of the eagle, you can do the tattoo on your arm or shoulder.

@tomahawktattooing

The tribal Eagle tattoo is inspired by mostly Native American culture as the eagle is a sacred animal in Native American traditions.

The eagle is a symbol of hope, and freedom showing off its majestic wings and sharp sense of hunt. So it can reflect your personality with different colors and details.

You can also place the tattoo on different parts of the body depending on the size you choose. The tattoo is most popularly done on the back, arms, or legs as a powerful expression of your identity and culture.

@exittattookizkalesi

The eagle head tattoo is another popular iteration of the eagle tattoo showing off only the head of the eagle. This variation is often bundled with other elements like banners, names, quotes, and flags.

The tattoo is often done with a traditional or realistic color scheme. But you can go overboard with the design and include some vivid colors to make the tattoo more personalized.

This tattoo can be placed on various parts of the body. Most often this tattoo is done on a bigger scale and placed on arms and shoulders. But you can always do a smaller design to place on your ankles, wrists, and hands.

@station1tattoo_company

The eagle is also an important symbol for Germany. The German eagle tattoo features the coat of arms of Germany.

You can add different colors and elements to the tattoo such as the German flag to show off your patriotism.

You can do the tattoo with various styles including smaller designs to put on your wrists. But if you want to show off your love for your country, you can make a bigger tattoo to put on the shoulders or forearms.

@7seastattoocollective

The flying eagle tattoo shows off the sublime creature in its mid-flying state showing off its beautiful wings and talons. Most often the tattoo is done in a realistic color scheme. But you can always do a black-and-white design.

You can also place the tattoo in different places on the body. But the most common place to the put the tattoo would be on the chest or the back.

The Philippine eagle tattoo shows off the Philippine national bird Philippine eagle- one of the biggest eagle species in the world. The tattoo is often done in the traditional style but you can also do a realistic version of the tattoo.

Depending on the size, you can put the tattoo on the back of the chest to show off the bird fully.

@sansei_w_oki_tattoo

The eagle and snake tattoo represents an eagle and either fighting or being close to each other. This design can be personalized into abstract art or done in a realistic style.

You can get the tattoo done on your forearms and shoulders. But the most popular placement for the tattoo would be on the chest.

@traditionalink.bogota

The Harpy eagle tattoo represents one of the biggest and strongest eagle species in the world. The eagle has a distinctive feathered chest that you can incorporate into a realistic style or a traditional style.

You can also get the ink on different places on the body including the chest or the shoulders.

@petergranite

The eagle tattoo adapted for the minimal style preferred by women are some of the most beautiful designs we have seen. This design features beautiful colors and shading often with ornamental elements like flowers.

You can do this tattoo from the ankle or the wrist to the chest or back depending on the size.

@taijnar_ink

This tattoo design is inspired by traditional tattoo designs. This tattoo will incorporate bold outlines and deep shading.

You can do the tattoo in a smaller form factor on the underboob, side boob, or wrist or a bigger design on the back.

@neuronanegra.tattoo

The eagle eyes tattoo only features the intense gaze of an eagle showing off the sharp vision of the eagle. This can be accompanied by elements like feathers and other tribal elements.

This gives off a daring outlook and you can do this tattoo on visible places like forearms, shoulders, or hands.

@masonsinkstudio

This is a very powerful tattoo design that combines two fierce creatures showing off the intelligence and loyalty of the wolf and the strength and courage of the eagle.

You can do this tattoo on the chest showing off the two creatures intertwined with each other. Or you can do a simplistic version with just the outlines of an eagle and a wolf.

@vlad_octavian_tattooist

The Japanese eagle tattoo is another tattoo design that is becoming very popular. This design features an eagle in the Japanese art style .

Often accompanied by waves or cherry blossoms, you can do the tattoo to show off your grace and strength.

@cam.kelley

The screaming eagle tattoo shows off exactly what the name suggests – a powerful scream of an eagle in flight. This shows off the power and fierceness of the eagle.

You can do the tattoo with a realistic color scheme on the chest or the back if the design is big. This would be a perfect design for you if you want to show off your fierce nature.

@lighthouse_tattoo

The eagle tattoo is a very good design to do on the sleeves due to the possible eye-catching detailing. You can portray the eagle in various positions in the tattoo. Thanks to the versatility of the sleeve positioning, you can show or hide the tattoo easily.

@good_mornink_tattoo

The realistic eagle tattoo shows off the eagle in its natural colors and features with intricate designs. You can also customize the design with the eagle sitting on a branch or in a mid-flight.

@tomb_tattoo

This tattoo features a very minimalist design of the eagle often only in the outline with minimal details. If you want a simple design to show off your strength and courage, you can go with this design.

Eagle and Lion Tattoo

@mrs_ms_tattoo_piercings

This tattoo shows off another design combining two other majestic beings the lion and the eagle often intertwined with each other. This tattoo shows off your strength, power, and courage and can be done in different body locations.

@ironeagletattoos

The iron eagle gives a modern mechanical look to the eagle tattoo with other elements often added. You can do the tattoo on the arms or on the forearms to show off the futuristic look.

@jpeck_tattoos

The white eagle tattoo shows off the eagle in a white or even a black and white color scheme to give it more contrast and to show off purity.

@evie_tattootide

The eagle and skull tattoo captures the eagle’s fierceness with a skull showing off the eagle’s domination over death. If you want to symbolize dominion over all obstacles, you can go with this design.

@bbyhandsbell

@modish0007

This design shows off the eagle in a black color. This gives the eagle a bolder more ominous look. If you want to show a striking personality, you can do the tattoo on visible parts of the body to show the ink off.

@inkperium13_tattoos

The geometric eaglet tattoo gives an abstract look to the eagle with different geometric shapes. These look unique and will make you stand out among other eagle tattoo users.

@bat.monger

The eagle claw tattoo shows off the majestic talons of the eagles with a very detailed design. You can also add tribal patterns and feathers to the design to give it a more pop factor. The most impactful placement would be the arm or the forearm for this tattoo.

@anderson_patrocino

The eagle face tattoo shows off the eagle’s face. This design often consists of intricate details and shading. This design is most popularly placed on the upper arm or the back to showcase the details.

@troyscotttattoo

As a big workspace, legs are a good choice for the eagle tattoo design. You can do different variations of the eagle tattoo that we discussed above. But the most effective design on the legs would be the traditional style on the calf or the thigh.

@lucasbruder.tattooing

The eagle river tattoo is another interesting tattoo design that shows off the eagle in accompaniment of a river and other elements like rocks and trees. If you are someone who wants to showcase your love for nature go for this design.

The video shows how an eagle tattoo is done on the arms. First, like every other tattoo design, the artist draws the outline and traces it to the place where you want the tattoo done. Then the artist will draw the outline of the eagle with fine-line needles .

Later they will add details and highlights depending on the design. In this case, the artist is doing a realistic tattoo design with white highlights to show off a realistic eagle captured in time.

If you are looking into how the tattooing process is done for the eagle tattoo, this is a good representative video.

Done looking at all the tattoo design ideas, but still have some questions? Well. Here we have some of the most common questions you asked and answered for you.

Q: What is the best place to get an eagle tattoo?

Answer: This is one of the most popular questions regarding eagle tattoos that we are frequently asked. The simplest answer would be on the chest. Because the eagle tattoo can be ornamented with very intricate details, the best place to show it off would be a big canvas like your chest.

Q: Is an eagle tattoo good?

Answer: Well, depends on what you mean. The eagle tattoo has a deep symbolic meaning with each of the meanings associated with some good qualities like freedom, courage, and strength. So, if you are thinking about meaning or symbolism, the eagle tattoo has only good connotations.

Q: What does the eagle tattoo have to do with the military?

Answer: Well, the eagle is associated with freedom, courage, and patriotism in the military, especially for the American military. So for many military personnel, the eagle tattoo is a symbol of patriotism, protection, and pride that they can wear to show off their love for the country.

To finish up, the eagle tattoo is a very popular design among both newcomers to the tattoo passion and veterans. No other tattoo will show your fierceness, courage, and love for your country at the same time as this tattoo.

The eagle tattoo comes in different designs and holds different meanings depending on your personality and choice. You can get the tattoo done in different places on your body depending on what size you want your tattoo to be. But the most popular tattoo placement for this eagle tattoo would be your chest or back if you want to really make the tattoo pop.

This tattoo shows off your fierce power, courage, and strength. So, be mindful of the design you choose, so that it reflects your personality accurately.

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The Multifaceted Meanings of Eagle Tattoos: Power and Pride

Table of Contents

Meanings of eagle tattoos, types of eagle tattoos, tattoos of eagles with other animals, symbolism of eagle tattoos in different cultures, celebrities with eagle tattoos.

The eagle is a large, majestic and predatory bird and a popular choice in tattoos, thanks to its majestic look and meaningful symbolism.  It represents freedom and power, but there are many other meanings associated with it. Let’s take a look at the different variations of eagle tattoos and their symbolism.

1. Honor and Diligence

The eagle is a common symbol of honor and diligence, especially when associated with military units. Any type of eagle tattoo can represent these meanings. However, diligence and honor are best symbolized by tattoos of this magnificent bird surrounded by military icons like weapons, soldiers or the U.S. flag.

Commonly found throughout North America, the Bald Eagle is the country’s national bird and a powerful symbol of liberty . Its image is often used to portray the freedom and rights available to all citizens of America. Since the eagle itself is an independent bird that soars freely above the world, eagle tattoos generally signify freedom.

3. Willpower

Eagles use their instincts for traveling and hunting which is why they’re often viewed as a symbol of willpower. Therefore, eagle tattoos are highly popular among those who have strong willpower or those who wish to increase their willpower. The eagle tattoo is often worn by the leaders of certain recovery programs for this reason.

Courage is one of the characteristics that make eagles superior to other birds. They’re not intimidated by the strength or size of their prey and are completely fearless. In this way, the eagle tattoo suits those who fight for what they want in life regardless of the obstacles they may face. In most cases, people who wear the eagle tattoo for this reason will often have the word ‘fearlessness’ or ‘courage’ written above or below the image of the eagle to make its meaning clear.

5. Strength and Power

Eagles are considered to be the strongest and most powerful birds on Earth because of their ability to carry prey that weighs at up to four times their own weight. They have strong feet with curved talons, powerful wings which carry them in flight and the strength to kill animals such as jackals or small antelopes. Eagles have been a popular symbol of imperial power and war since the Babylonian times because of their excessive strength.

6. Survival

The Golden eagle is commonly found in Eurasia and North America  and has been closely linked with humans since the ancient times. It has long been used in falconry since it’s highly intelligent and can be trained for hunting. These birds are effective killers and hunters, making them a symbol of survival.

The way eagles are depicted in tattoos and the accompanying words or graphics can affect the symbolism and meaning associated with it. Here are some of the most common variations of eagle tattoos and what they stand for:

1. Eagle Head Tattoo

This tattoo varies in design and size, symbolizing vision and focus. It’s usually done in black and white as well as in several colors, with intricate detail. Some tattoo enthusiasts tend to go for the double-headed eagle tattoo which signifies strength, power, honor and dominance.

2. Eagle’s Wings Tattoo

Eagle’s wings are one of the most popular types of eagle tattoos. They focus on the aspect of the eagle that makes it such a majestic animal – it’s large, dominant wings. The wings represent freedom, protection and stability. It’s the wings that give an eagle its power and authority.

3. Flying Eagle Tattoo

This tattoo depicts a flying eagle with its wings spread out, soaring through the sky. It’s a symbol of spiritual growth and freedom. This is because eagles are independent birds with unlimited freedom. This tattoo also symbolizes opportunity, wisdom or strength and is also worn as a symbol of authority and supreme power.

4. Fierce Eagle Tattoo

In some eagle tattoos, the eagle is depicted with its talons extended and beak open, as though it’s getting ready to attack something. This variation of the tattoo symbolizes courage, power, determination and strength.

5. Tribal Eagle Tattoo

These tattoos have their roots in Aztect and Native American traditions and beliefs. Although they may be depicted differently according to the tribe, they all have something in common: they portray the eagle in a position of command, symbolizing power, strength and spiritual wisdom.

6. German Eagle Tattoo

This tattoo is similar to a coat of arms and was once used over a swastika as an official symbol of the Nazis. Although this tattoo is often chosen as a symbol of one’s German heritage, many tend to misinterpret it and consider it as a Nazi symbol.

Sometimes, eagle tattoos are combined with tattoos of other animals, the most common being tigers or wolves. These kind of tattoos usually represent the desire to infuse one’s human body with the nobility and strength of the eagle or the desire to possess a combination of certain powerful traits. Here are some of the most popular combinations.

1. Snake and Eagle Tattoos

On their own, serpent or snake tattoos and eagle tattoos have some similarities. They both portray fierceness and machismo. The main difference between the two is that snakes are associated with poison, evil and sin and the eagle represents all that’s right and good.

Snakes are often vicious and vindictive and wearing a snake tattoo often means that the bearer is vengeful and cannot be messed with, which is why these tattoos are highly popular among prisoners and criminal gangs.

When a tattoo depicts an eagle and a snake fighting, it usually means that a person’s two sides are in conflict. The eagle is often seen as the noble side of the person’s character whereas the snake is viewed as the darker, hidden side. The eagle is often the one winning, which could mean that although the person has experience many trials and tribulations, it’s ultimately their good side that wins.

Some tattoos depict both animals in a fight, with neither of them winning. This could mean that the person is still battling with their inner turmoil

2. Eagle and Wolf Tattoos

Wolves are mysterious animals that symbolize wisdom, loyalty, spiritual protection and femininity. Some view them as terrifying predators whose howl is known to send chills down our spines whereas others see them as guardians, warrior spirits or symbols of loyalty and strength.

When combined, wolf and eagle tattoos depict two of the strongest animals in the animal kingdom and are beautiful to look at. Together, these two animals in the same tattoo are symbolic of wild spirits and pride. Because the wolf’s domain is the land and the eagle’s is the sky, the tattoo also represents the duality of nature and life. These tattoos are also viewed as a symbol of patriotism for the U.S., since both these animals are strongly ingrained in American symbolism.

3. Eagle and Lion Tattoos

As the king of the jungle, the lion is a symbol of courage and bravery which is why it’s a popular choice for tattoos among many tattoo enthusiasts, especially among men. These tattoos typically signify the bearer’s fearlessness or overcoming challenges through courage.

When combined, lion and eagle tattoos are the ultimate representation of strength, freedom, courage, power, pride and dignity. While tattoos depicting the heads of both animals are  fairly common, another popular design is that of the griffin, a half-eagle, half-lion mythical creatures. Griffins are usually featured on crests, shields and suits of amor, symbolizing prestige, power and bravery.

The eagle is a popular symbol in various cultures, traditions and mythologies throughout history. In some cultures, it’s regarded as a spiritual symbol whereas in others, it’s simply a symbol used to convey strength and power.   

The Eagle Tattoo in Native American Culture

Native Americans were highly spiritual people who passed down their ideas, beliefs, theories, history and thoughts through signs and symbols to their younger generations. They considered the eagle as a symbol of sacredness and they even held an eagle feather while praying.

The eagle’s feather is a symbol of healing in Native American culture. The Native Americans wear eagle feather tattoos to show their Native heritage or their connection with nature. They viewed it as the ultimate symbol of courage, since the bird itself is strong, brave and powerful.

Since the eagle is said to be the bird that flies the highest, the Native Americans believed that it was the closest creature to their Creator. As a result, they also believed that it could carry their prayers to the Spirit world and deliver them to the Great Spirit.

The Eagle Tattoo in Celtic Culture

In Celtic culture, the eagle is a symbol of dexterity, security, leadership, focus and strength . The Celts  refer to the eagle as a symbol of higher thinking since the birds are known for their intelligence. As a symbol, the eagle is a guide to train the Celtic people to sharpen their mental skills and rise above new challenges.

The symbolism of this majestic bird in Celtic culture is greatly varied and encompasses many concepts. The people believe these concepts should be applied in certain aspects of their lives so that, like the eagle, they would emerge victorious.

The Eagle Tattoo in Greek and Roman Cultures

In Greek mythology, the eagle is a symbol closely associated with Zeus , the king of the gods. In some myths, Zeus took on the form of a majestic and powerful eagle to perform his will.

In Roman culture, eagles are especially prominent and are featured on many coins, banners and insignias. The eagle was considered a messenger and symbol of Jupiter, the Roman sky-god. Whenever a Roman emperor died, his body was cremated and an eagle was traditionally released above the funeral pyre, carrying his soul up to the heavens.

The Imperial Aquila , a two-headed eagle, remains one of the most prevalent and important of all Roman symbols , and can be found in architecture, artwork and other domains.

Eagle tattoos are a common choice among celebrities because of their association with American patriotism and their spiritual connotations. Many celebrities today wear eagle tattoos and see them as an important piece to add to their collection.

Justin Bieber

Justin Bieber is an obvious fan of tattoos since he’s virtually covered in them. He wears two eagle tattoos, one on his left bicep with a tiger tattoo just below it which could signify the desire to dominate many areas in life. The other is across his lower torso with the words ‘Son of God’ which has a spiritual meaning.

Amy Winehouse  

All of Amy Winehouse’s tattoos have their own personal meaning and most of them are similar to prison tattoos. Her eagle tattoo is in the middle of her back, depicting an ankh with the eagle’s wings on either side. The ankh is a symbol of eternal life force in Egyptian mythology and the eagle an ideal leader so it’s possible that the purpose of this tattoo was to give Amy a feeling of empowerment.

Adam Levine

Adam Levine’s eagle tattoo is similar to Justin Bieber’s in appearance and placement, sitting above the word ‘California’. It seems this tattoo represents Levine’s confidence and his desire to dominate the city of dreams. It could also simply mean courage.

Keith Urban

Keith Urban’s tattoo was a gift he gave himself on one of his birthdays during the time he was single. According to Keith, he spent a great deal of time in the U.S., enjoying his freedom and finally decided that the eagle would be a perfect tattoo to sum up how he was feeling and that particular period of his life. It appears on his right shoulder blade.

Eagle tattoos are becoming increasingly popular in the tattoo world because of their impressive look and versatility. Almost anyone can find an eagle tattoo which relates to them which is why people from all walks of life wear them. The best thing about them is that they look great on anyone regardless of gender or age.

Tags: Tattoo

Dani Rhys has worked as a writer and editor for over 15 years. She holds a Masters degree in Linguistics and Education, and has also studied Political Science, Ancient History and Literature. She has a wide range of interests ranging from ancient cultures and mythology to Harry Potter and gardening. She works as the chief editor of Symbol Sage but also takes the time to write on topics that interest her.

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20 epic eagle tattoos to inspire your next ink.

• October 20, 2022

Eagles are a common animal when it comes to tattoo design, and it’s no surprise why. These big, beautiful birds are a symbol of power, and many styles suit them.

Let’s take a look at 20 of our favorite eagle tattoos (and remember to look at our bear tattoo and spider tattoo articles for more wildlife tattoo inspiration).

Table of Contents Hide

1. swooping eagle with fine line elements, 2. full-arm realistic eagle and lion, 3. flying eagle tattoo, 4. golden eagle tattoo, 5. eagle and skull tattoo, 6. american traditional eagle tattoo, 7. pops of vibrant color, 8. soaring to the moon, 9. golden eye, 10. back attack, 11. micro fine-line tattoo, 12. watercolor eagle face, 13. geometric eagle tattoo, 14. eagle on the hunt, 15. german eagle tattoo, 17. filled-in eagle, 18. ornamentation, 19. sketches, 20. soaring on chest, what does an eagle tattoo symbolize, eagle tattoo ideas.

One of the most common eagle tattoo ideas is the bird swooping down to make the kill. This tattoo’s surrounding fine line elements paired with the delicate shading on this eagle’s wings give depth and dimension, making the design appear very realistic.

An eagle tattoo covering half or the whole sleeve is a great choice for those who want more substantial art of the bird. Above, we see an amazing full-arm realistic tattoo of an eagle and a lion’s head — both representing power and strength.

Here we see a medium-sized arm tattoo of an eagle about to take flight, with intricate details on its wings.

This eagle tattoo is a sight to see, especially with the bright yellow ink. Black and gold are a beautiful combination, and they complement each other wonderfully in this composition.

This tattoo of an eagle carrying a skull is a very conventional example of a flash design. It’s an interesting visual combination, yet it’s incredibly creative

Simple, but not at all boring. This black eagle tattoo with heavily shaded wings and different patterns makes quite the statement, wouldn’t you say?

This arm tattoo surely steals the show with its strong black lines, bright reds, and sunny yellows.

This incredibly detailed soaring eagle flies high around a subtly shaded moon. As they say, the sky is the limit.

This full-arm tattoo screams power with its subtly shaded eagle head and a golden eye as its focal point.

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Big and bold, this snake and eagle tattoo offers a unique take on back ink. The art is well-balanced with bold shades of black and a pop of color, and its overall design complements the contours of the human back.

Bigger doesn’t always mean better. This eagle micro tattoo packs an impressive amount of substance within a small area of the forearm. 

Tattoos done in watercolor are another way to evoke the look and feel of paper paintings. This arm eagle ink has vibrant watercolor splashes of blues, oranges, and yellows, paired with intricate black outlines.

Fan of minimalist lines? This geometric eagle tattoo is composed entirely of shapes, giving it a disjointed, cubist appearance.

Beautiful! This eagle tattoo is incredibly precise and close to having a photorealistic appearance. Numerous fine lines are used to produce perfectly textured wings and feathers, looking like it’s laser-focused on its prey.

Armband tattoos are making a comeback, and this black-shaded eagle tattoo with its wings used as a frame is an incredible idea.

A beautiful design that celebrates creative elements, this blue and white pattern has a unified gloomy theme.

This small arm tattoo takes the traditional eagle-in-scenery ink into something unique. Here we see an outline of a landing eagle, filled in with a delicately shaded skyline.

These fine-line stylish accents improve the tattoo’s aesthetic and help maintain a sense of visual equilibrium and harmony.

This is an example of an impressive eagle sketch tattoo, with flowing lines and other aspects that give the ink the impression of being a piece of artwork on paper.

The chest is one of the best places to add a soaring eagle tattoo, as it perfectly melds in the form of the body. This eagle with its wide-spread wings and dark-shaded feathers exudes a bold statement.

Eagle Tattoo Frequently Asked Questions

The eagle symbolizes strength, power, courage, and the ultimate goal of freedom.

As you can tell, there are a ton of eagle tattoos out there ranging in styles and sizes. I hope this small selection has helped inspire your next piece of ink.

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30+ Best Eagle Tattoo Design Ideas (And What They Mean)

Eagle tattoos are gorgeous ideas. Are you a fan of bird tattoos in general? This article will shed some light upon these phenomenal animals. Keep on reading and find your inspiration down below, ideal for guys and girls who can’t wait to decorate their skin with some phenomenal bird ideas.

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4 Things You Need To Know Before Getting Eagle Tattoo

What Does An Eagle Tattoo Symbolize?

Eagles are gorgeous birds that show power through their spirit. They symbolize freedom and courage to look ahead. This bird stands for honesty and truthful principles, and is popular for those who wish to come off as powerful & determined individuals.

Where Is The Best Placement For An Eagle Tattoo?

Your new eagle tattoo will look the best once placed somewhere visible. You should consider the following options:

• On your neck
• Your forearm
• Or your leg

What Does A Different Color Symbolize?

Different colored eagles will have a different meaning to them. This is because each color has a passionate meaning & explanation to it. The most common color ideas are:

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• Express your unique style and personality
• Red stands for passion, power , and love .
• Blue stands for loyalty and positivity.
• Green stands for change & symbolizes your love of nature.
• Yellow is a color of good luck & wealth.
• Brown is a color of purity & new growth .

What Are The Different Kinds Of Bird Tattoo Ideas?

You can always get a bird tattoo placed over your skin. You should know that different birds have different characteristics and meanings next to them. Some of the most popular ideas are:

• Eagle stands for freedom and independence.
• Phoenix is a bird that represents renewed life.
• A raven represents communication, guidance, and wisdom.
• Owls are a symbol of knowledge, intelligence, and wisdom.
• Doves are a symbol of peacemaking.
• The condor is symbolic of leadership, wisdom, justice, and goodness.
• Flamingos are a symbol of balance, grace, and beauty.
• Hummingbirds symbolize love, joy, and good luck.

6 Eagle Tattoos For Women

1. eagle tattoo images over thigh.

Thigh tattoos are usually worn by women who have gorgeous body shapes and feminine curves. This eagle tattoo is a masterpiece that you will enjoy if you are a lady in your young 20s or 30s.

It stands for purity, your spirit that loves to explore, as well as your divine & attractive personality. Perfect for fierce and strong individuals.

2. Eagle Tattoo Designs Floral Inspired

Are you a bird lover? Do you want to show off a gorgeous bird-inspired option? This one is ideal for those who love nature, animals, as well as colorful or floral elements. If you’re someone who has a dominant side you will enjoy this playful design.

This bird tattoo stands for peace and travel opportunities. You can feel as free as an eagle but also look tough at all times.

3. Eagle Tattoo On Back

Do you enjoy larger back tattoos? Are you someone who knows how to rock dramatic prints? If you’re a fan of large tattoos this one will suit you. Ideal for women who know how to style and wear their feminine and loud ideas.

It stands for your chic personality and your powerful forceful self, ideal for those who are constantly growing and exploring the beauties of the life!

4. Eagle Tattoo On Arm Black Design

This eagle tattoo is a detailed and precise piece, ideal for women who wish to stand out when it comes to their tattoo selection. It is a black and white tattoo that has that side and an artsy vibe to it.

This tattoo represents your perfectionist side, as well as your need for order and precision. If you’re a detail-oriented individual this art will suit you.

5. Eagle Forearm Tattoo

Another forearm tattoo that you will enjoy if you’re into visible and proper placements. Women who wish to rock a fierce and bold eagle will enjoy this idea.

This eagle stands for your freedom and your inner feelings, as well as ambition. Anyone who is a fan of coop ideas will want to rock something like this over their arm or forearm.

6. Back Eagle Tattoo Ideas

How about this back design idea? It is a must for powerful women or those who crave attention, as well as perfection. This is a geometrical and symmetrical tattoo that looks divine over your back, phenomenal for enthusiasts.

This tattoo is for girls or women who believe in destiny and rightful and pleasant instincts. If you’re someone who knows how to get things your way this image will show that off.

6 Arm Eagle Tattoos

1. eagle tattoo traditional black idea.

Are you someone who enjoys true artwork? How about precise and outstanding tattoos? A lot of men love to rock black and white tattoos, how about you? This piece is unique thanks to its colored eyes and a pop of orange hue, ideal for minimalists !

Orange is a color of power and new beginnings. If you feel like a strong-willed and minded person who knows how to achieve their personal goals you can show it off with this arm design.

2. American Eagle Tattoo Arm Idea

How about a pop of color when it comes to your eagle tattoos? This one is unique in its own way and is a symbol of fierceness, as well as eagerness to succeed. You will enjoy it if you’re someone who stands out or at least loves to stand out from the rest.

Red is a fiery color that symbolizes your determined will and passion. If you’re someone who wants to embrace positive feelings and show everyone how far you’ve come in life, you can do it with this tattoo!

3. Eagle Tattoo On Arm Masculine Idea

This is an eagle-grabbing tattoo that is playful and ubiquitous in its own way. If you’re someone who is into artsy tattoos, as well as those that symbolize deeper things, you will enjoy this one.

This tattoo stands for your personality and how it is always seeking more things in its spare time. If you’re someone who is always trying to catch their prey, show it off with this unique idea.

4. Colorful Eagle Tattoo Ideas

Do you enjoy darker, colorful, as well as more mystical tattoos? This one is for true lovers of dynamic and showy ideas. If you’re someone who has a different personality and you love to come off as loud and unique you can show all of that with this print.

Green stands for discoveries and a fun adventure. If you’re someone who has a strong mind and a powerful will that you wish to show off to the world just know that this image is ideal for your personality.

5. Black German Eagle Tattoo

This eagle is inspired by the mysterious and warrior-like events that are around us. If you are someone who has a dominant side and you’re always trying to out smarten the system, this tattoo screams your name!

It represents and stands for a war that is in all of us. If you’re someone who doesn’t mind the ups and downs that we all have in life, yet you know how to face them – show your intentions with this eagle design.

6. Eagle Tattoo On Arm Red & Black

This bright red and black forearm tattoo is for warriors, as well as guys who live for dominant ink. If you’re someone who has a lot of respect and you are a charismatic character, let that show with this image!

This tattoo will represent your fighter side. It will let everyone know that you’re a powerful and free-minded character who doesn’t know when to stop.

6 Chest Eagle Tattoos

1. eagle tattoo chest black image.

How about you consider a chest tattoo? Guys usually prefer and love this placement since it is masculine and perfect for those who wish to stand out.

Go for your favorite Latin saying along with this image. It will show everything that you need it to show and it will stand for your outstanding presence. Your favorite saying can say a lot about you, as well as your approach to life.

2. Masculine Eagle Tattoo Over Chest

Do you enjoy tribal tattoos and dramatic pieces? How about tribal eagle prints? A lot of men who have a mysterious and warrior side to them will appreciate this or a similar tattoo. It is perfect for masculine and determined guys as well.

It stands for your constant growth and your new discoveries. If you’re fierce you can even show it with your tattoo. This one is not a time-consuming piece, which is great as well as easy to wear.

3. Chest & Stomach Eagle Tattoo Images

Stomach tattoos are quite painful, unfortunately. However, these are popular among men who have a lot of courage to pull them off. Are you someone who knows how to slay colorful and dramatic ink? Only some dare to wear this print.

This is an eagle as well as a snake – all in one. It represents and stands for your constant chase. Aren’t we all trying to figure some things out on our own? If this does sound like your struggle you will want to show it with this ink.

4. Chest Eagle Tattoo Black, Red & Yellow Idea

This chest and neck tattoo is one of a kind. Guys who have a masculine body and those who are not afraid of showing their figurine will want something similar to this. It is loud, bright, colorful, as well as vivid!

Eagles represent your eye for details, as well as your will and your boldness. Colorful ink ideas stand for outstanding moves as well as loud personalities. If you’re someone who is a party person and you crave attention this tattoo will show it.

5. Large & Colorful Eagle Chest Tattoo

Bold and colorful tattoos such as this one are ideal for guys who work out and who are not afraid of attention, as well as all the little details. This idea is perfect for anyone who is a fan of tribal prints.

Make sure that you have enough time to get something similar tattooed on top. This idea takes 6+ hours, and the tattoo itself is colorful and ravishing. The snake print shows that there is always a pray nearby, yet that you probably know how to eliminate it.

6. Chest & Shoulder Chest Black Eagle Ink

This half chest and half collarbone tattoo idea is a sign of power and originality. Guys who have a fierce side to them usually get prints such as this one on top of their skin.

This eagle is ready to tackle and take down an enemy and any prey. It stands for pure skills and obedience that you should show.

Read More:  Best Chest Tattoos for Men: 70+ Design Ideas (2023 Updated)

6 Eagle Tattoos For Men

1. eagle tattoo on neck black idea.

Eagle tattoos usually look great and feisty over the neck. This print is a unique and one-of-a-kind tattoo. Those who love and crave attention should rock this print.

Make sure that you are not over-sensitive. Neck tattoos are pretty painful and uncomfortable to go for. This one will tell that you’re capable of handling any type of pain, so why not give it a go?

2. Black Tattoo Neck Idea

Black and white eagle tattoos can look peaceful. If you’re someone who appreciates beauty, art, and divine tattoos – go with this eagle. It is a retro and funky choice that you will appreciate over your visible and showy parts.

Eagles stand for truth and upper meaning, as well as trustful principles. This one will say that you’re someone who knows how to obey the rules and have fun on your own terms.

3. Eagle Tattoo Designs On Side Stomach

Side chest tattoos are quite unique yet painful. This image will take you over 6 hours to achieve. If you’re someone who knows how to rock bolder and bigger tattoos, this one will come in handy!

Eagles stand for finding your peace and inner self. If you have never had a dull moment and you’re someone who knows how to get and achieve your goals you can style this dramatic tattoo.

4. Eagle Shoulder Tattoo Black Ink Image

You can go for a shoulder tattoo and decorate it with some numbers. This way, it will resemble a clock. Are you as strict and punctual as an eagle?

Tattoos can stand for your deep inner feelings and thoughts. You will look like a fighter who values your own time with this image.

5. Polish Eagle Tattoo Over Back

Giant back tattoos usually look the best on men who are not afraid of the tattooing process. Are you someone who knows how to rock giant and bold pieces?

This back inspo tattoo can tell a great story. You can decorate it however you want as time goes on. You will enjoy the fact that it can be customized and decorated however you like.

6. Eagle Tribal Tattoo Colorful Design

Do you enjoy tribal colorful tattoos? Are you someone who knows and enjoys rocking larger and vivid ideas? This is a 3-6 hour tattoo job, so make sure that you book a tattoo artist who is known for his or her professional approach.

Different colors will stand for different emotions that you can feel. Go for a color pattern that represents your personality, as well as your deeper feelings.

6 Black & White Eagle Tattoos

1. eagle tattoo on arm black tattoo inspo.

Sometimes, some tattoos can take time to get just right. This one is one of those! If you are a fan of colorless yet detailed ideas you can enjoy this forearm piece. It is a time-consuming idea, yet a gorgeous tattoo for people who love to stand out.

Are there layers to you? Well, every person is unique in its own way. You can show how far you’ve come and your journey with this bold black eagle.

2. Eagle Tattoo Designs Forest Inspired Idea

Not a lot of tattoo artist can do this shaded idea. Make sure that you find the one that is known for their approach & unique ideas. Once you put your mind to it and if you feel brave enough just know that this ink will take you 6+ hours to tattoo.

It stands for your never-ending journey, as well as the path that you’re willing to take. If you’re struggling finding your purpose and you’re always growing while not show it off with this tattoo?

3. Detailed Tattoo Eagle Image

This eagle is kind of sad, but it is a masterpiece! Are you into unique and original tattoos? Not everyone can pull off this image, but do you dare?!

The tattoo stands for your sadness (which is in all of us). However, just like an eagle, you’re capable of overcoming it!

4. Men Inspired Eagle Tattoos

Well-faded and ombre tattoos are usually worn by those who prefer slick images. This is a harder piece to rock, so make sure that you’re wild enough to go for it.

The tattoo in itself symbolizes hard times, will, as well as your ups & downs. Show that you’re capable of overcoming it all with this black tattoo inspo.

5. Faded Eagle Tattoo Design

This black ink might suit women a bit better than men. A lot of girls love & prefer smaller & perfectly shaded images. It will take you around 4-5 hours to end up with this symbol.

It stands and symbolizes persistence, power, and trials and errors. If you’re someone who knows how to get what you want and in your own approach you can get this image.

6. Eagle Feather Tattoo Over Ankle

Last, but definitely not least, are you in the mood for an ankle tattoo? The placement itself is quite common, especially among women! Show off this beauty in your favorite sneakers, and go for this tattoo if you love hidden placements.

Your passion is flying and exploring? Your eagle tattoo can say that about you. It is ideal for adventurous individuals, that’s for sure!

Ready For Your Eagle Tattoo?

Are you ready to rock your new & favorite eagle tattoo? Which design is your favorite out of these 30 options? Eagle tattoos will suit men & women, let us know which one is your top-choice when it comes to these tattoos.

Sharing is caring!

Bella Jiang is the founder and editor of Saved Tattoo, an online authority site for tattoo enthusiasts and artists. After graduating from art school in China in 2010, Bella worked as a designer before pursuing her passion for tattooing full-time in 2015.

Driven by a lifelong fascination with body art, Bella overcame social stigma to become a tattoo artist. She opened her own private studio in Hangzhou a few years later.

In 2018, Bella launched Saved Tattoo to share insider knowledge with both first-timers and veteran collectors looking to expand their ink. She covers topics like tattoo history, artistic styles, safety tips, design inspiration, and more.

Bella aims to inform and inspire fellow tattoo lovers through the site's wealth of resources. She also promotes tattoo acceptance in a culture that often misunderstands the art form.

When she's not writing or managing Saved Tattoo, Bella connects with fellow artists and aficionados at conventions. She currently lives and tattoos in Hangzhou.

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Top 100 Eagle Tattoos With Meanings and Ideas

the eagle is the official mascot for the USA since forever because of all that it stands for. It stands for freedom, courage, and a very keen eye on the goal. However, the eagle is used as a symbol for thousands of years in numerous cultures and countries too. Thus, it extends its boundaries and is not just limited to the American men, but those from every walk of life.

The Native Americans believed that the eagle was the incarnation of some supreme lord and its feathers were used for spiritual and religious rituals and made to be worn as garments. The Persian army used the bird as its symbol. And the ancient Egyptians too made the eagle their royal seal. In Christianity, one of the most popular religions, the eagle represented salvation, a signal of liberation through redemption.

The eagle in general is the symbol tat symbolizes a fleet into the world where there are no boundaries and one can expect to go beyond any limitation and assert bravery, intelligence, and power. It is not just a matter of the American past, but also a great symbol for the modern man.

You can either show it proudly on your chest or roll it over your sleeve but a badass eagle tattoo would always let the world know that there is no stopping you from victory. It means that you are someone who lives life with grace and a definition. Here are more than 100 awesome eagle tattoo designs to take a look at.

Meaning Of Eagle Tattoo Designs

Contents (Click to Jump)

In the realm of the birds, the eagle is said to be on the top of the food chain as it is one of the greatest predators for known reasons. Eagles have a vision that is so powerful and strong that it is almost 4 times more powerful that the vision of the man. In fact, what more is that the eagle can carry 15lb of weight which is pretty impressive. In addition, some other species of eagle have been known to killing ungulates that weigh up to 66 pounds. The martial eagle has been known to kill and flown with 82 pounds duiker.

This is about 6 to 7 times the eagle’s body weight. Although we have talked about a few species, there are about 60 more of them, which belong to places like Eurasia and Africa. Others belong to North America, Australia, and Central and South America.

However, when it comes to what an eagle stands for, there is a long list of its symbolism in ancient and modern cultures.

Here are some of those meanings that the eagles stand for:

• Opportunity
• Power and Dominance
• Spirituality and a messenger of the gods
• Clarity, Vision, and Focus
• Masculinity and Virility

The Moche of Peru has been known to worship the bird, while in Greek mythology, it is known that they were a patron of God Zeus. In the ancient Angelic traditions, you will find the eagle as being represented in numerous Biblical verses like Exodus and Isaiah and many others. For example, in Psalm 103, it talks of the renewal of youth as compared to that of an eagle.

While in Germany, the eagle holds unique ties to the Roman Empire. It is often depicted as a bird with two heads. One head represents the Eastside and the other, the West. In religion, it is also noted as the king of the birds.

The Eagle, who served as a symbol of Zeus for the gReeks is often seen as an overpowering bird who is floating in the sky with great power. The bird that people usually get ink is huge in size so that it looks like it is creating ripples in the sky. Many people decorate it with lightning and other similar effects. Most people, because of its gold-like symbolism, take it as an emblem of the same.

We have selected a number of designs with different meanings that will inspire you to get one of the eagle designs for yourself for sure. This list features more than 100 eagle tattoo designs. From real work to an artistic blend, you will get probably everything.

• Perched eagle tattoo  – This tattoo is a representation of strength, power, and provision.
• Fighting eagle tattoo  – Essentially, it symbolizes power, strength as well as confidence.
• Tribal eagle tattoo  – You can fancy having a tribal tattoo with feathers cast out as a representative of sovereignty and power.
• Egyptian eagle tattoo  – It means to influence and security.
• Eagle head tattoo  – A simplistic eagle head tattoo can be a prominent representative of locus and high imagination.
• Eagle quotes tattoo  – The meaning of this tattoo will be resolved based on the collection of words and quotes.
• Eagle feather tattoo  – This can be used to express center and great confidence.

Ideas for Eagle Tattoo Designs

Bald Eagle: The bald eagles are a pretty popular option when it comes to getting eagle tattoo design. You can add the red and white patriotic stripes of the American Flag along with this design like most people like o get. It s pretty popular in the States and is regarded as the official symbol. It symbolizes everything patriotic right from pride, freedom, and a lot of patriotism. Many also add a beautiful green eye to the eagle to give it a beautiful touch an define the stance of the bird.

Eagles and skulls: Many people like the idea of getting eagles paired up with skulls because it looks really awesome. You can also add some smokey effect in your tattoo design which would look even great and enhance the whole theme of the design. It represents many things. It could mean an association with eath or even triumph over death. It could also mean the acceptance of mortality and that death is essential. Smoke also symbolizes the same.

Eagle and snake: Many times people also add snakes with the skull tattoo. it adds a certain character to the design and the texture of it. You can make it in a realistic form or the cartoon form. Omitting or editing your own design would make it look super awesome. You can get this tattoo on a bigger part of your body like chest or back. It could be colorful because it will enhance the look. But you can also choose fo the certain parts of the tattoo which you want to focus on to be colored while the others without it.

Eagle and Banners: You can add some quotes or some important words on this tattoo design which would look awesome. Some birds might come with a banner in which some words have ebene writer. Most people choose words like struggle, power, stamina, trust, prey, etc to go along with their design. It can represent any phase of their life. YOu can add some colors to the design so that it can enhance the whole design.

American Traditional Styling : The traditional American style of getting this tattoo design would be pretty awesome. It usually uses black and grey inks along with a beautiful shading effect. The linework is pretty awesome because it is precise and intricate. It is rather masculine and many people like to get this design on the areas which are broad like the upper arm, chest, and even back. It is one of the finest approaches you can take.

Eagle tattoo on Chest: Getting an eagle design on the chest is probably one of the most amazing and popular designs that you can make. People get it on the chest because it represents power and stamina along with rebirth. Since the chest is closest to the heart and is attributed to these qualities, it is pretty natural that the placement option is the best. You can add some shading effect which would add the gravity to such a profound design and make it look more awesome.

Eagle Head: Some tattoos just focus on the head of the eagles. The wings are another part that needs some focus. The facial features of the birds can be many. He can have a deathly and grim look on his face but it is exactly what most people aim for. With this isolated and grim look on his face, the eagle is taken pretty seriously by its wearers. The shading effect would add to the grimness.

Two Eagles: Sometimes you might have noticed two eagle images together. The one is a close up of the bird while the second one which is often made in the vicinity is a full image. The second one, however, is smaller than the first one. The second image emphasizes the open wings of the bird who is ready to fly high and go for its prey. These two pictures can be paired together in a contrast which can show two different styles of designs, a succession of events, two different color combination, or even different kinds of moods. The first bird, for example, could have a focus on its piercing eyes who are looking for its prey while the second bird can be a representation of the same eagle in action to trap down its prey.

Two-Headed Eagle: This design is different from the two eagle design. You might have noticed a single body with two eagle heads on it. It could be a reference to the two-headed eagle symbol of the Holy Roman Empire. But it is not limited to this symbol. It can have various other symbols which would be pretty awesome to see.

The United States Marine Corps: The symbol of the eagle as The United States Marine Corps is pretty common. It usually shows a screaming eagle who is flying towards in order to attack its prey. This image is the official flag of the United States which makes it look like the logo of the United States Marine Corps. It could symbolize the pride of the States, for the people, and the servicemen in the marine.

Abstract Eagle tattoo: Your eagle tattoo does not have to be pretty traditional. In fact, you can add some abstract design to it. You can add some beautiful watercolor effect int his design. Many people stick to blue and red colors because of their association with the flag of the USA. It looks pretty modern with more geometric shades and a great option if you are looking for something contemporary other than the realistic effect.

Where Should You Get Eagle Tattoo Designs?

• Finger spaces
• Shoulder blade
• Behind the ear

List of Eagle Tattoo Designs

Here’s a list of the best Eagle Tattoo Designs for you to pick!

Awesome Eagle Tattoo Design On Arm

Ths Eagle Tattoo Design is made right on the arm of the wearer and seems to be looking at its prey. It is a great design with a shading effect and the use of back ink. You can get it made on your legs and thighs too besides your arms which I think is a pretty general placement area.

Creative Eagle Tattoo Design On Arm

This Eagle Tattoo Design is pretty interesting because there, the eagle has placed its wings in a closed position. It almost seems like the eagle is saying its reverence to someone. It is a great design with a rose flower at the bottom. It looks pretty great.

Paired Eagle Tattoo Design On Arm

Both the Eagle and the fox are considered sly and predators. Thus, this wearer has made his two favorite animals on his arm just beside each other. It is a beautiful design and looks very realistic too. You can combine two such animals together if you like.

Artistic Eagle Tattoo Design On Chest

This is a pretty artistic Eagle Tattoo Design made right on the chest. The body of the eagle ha been kept uncolored and made by using black ink outline only, but his wings have been decorating beautifully with colors and shading effects. It is a great design.

Colorful Eagle Tattoo Design On Arm

In this Eagle Tattoo Design, the eagle is sitting right on the top on a clock. Here, the clock can be any clock tower because the eagles usually sit at a height that is appropriate for any clock tower. It is also added with beautiful flowers on the side which adds the color.

Charming Eagle Tattoo Design On Leg

This beautiful Eagle Tattoo Design is made on the leg of the wearer. It is an appropriate design because there the eagle can be seen making a move and taking a flight to attack his prey. It denotes dedication, struggle, and survival. It is a great black ink design.

Colorful Eagle Tattoo Design On Back

This is a pretty great Eagle Tattoo Design which is made right on the back of the wearer. It shows an eagle along with a dragon and a snake. The eagle seems to be ina fight with all of them. However, even the war scene is beautifully portrayed on the back using amazing colors.

Articulate Eagle Tattoo Design On Back

This beautiful and detailed Eagle Tattoo Design is a masterpiece without a doubt because it covers the whole back and is done with such detailings that it looks quite realistic. You must make sure that in order to draw something like this, you must find an appropriate tattoo artist.

Compassionate Eagle Tattoo Design on Back

This is a beautiful Eagle Tattoo Design that shows an eagle ready to pounce on its prey. It si did in blue and black ink which provides a great combination and denotes night time and mystery. It can be made on the back or on the chest because it would look good in medium to big sizes.

Little Eagle Tattoo Design on Back

This is a rather beautiful and girly Eagle Tattoo Design. Here, you can see that the colors have been induced in the Eagle Tattoo Design by adding some rocks which look beautiful because of the watercolor effect. The eagle looks absolutely amazing which is floating in the sky, probably to protect the rocks?

Amiable Eagle Tattoo Design On Wrist

This is a beautiful eagle head that is done on the wrist of the wearer. It is made with black and white ink and looks absolutely stunning. It shows the gaze of the eagle which can symbolize determination and vigilance. The eagle is a great predator and this tattoo shows exactly his strengths.

Friendly Eagle Tattoo Design On Chest

This beautiful Eagle Tattoo Design shows a lot of things and covered the whole frontal part of the body. It has the eagle in the middle, the elephant in the bottom, and a serpent right at the top. Thus if you have some favorite animals that you want to add or probably they all make some meaning, this design would suit you the best.

Brave Eagle Tattoo Design on Chest

Here you can see this Eagle Tattoo Design made with black ink which looks very bold and amazing. It is a great design that is made right on the chest. It shows a fight between two amazing animals, the eagle and the snake who are portrayed in an amazing manner.

Cool Eagle Tattoo Design On Arm

The pattern on the eagle’s back is what makes this Eagle Tattoo Design very attractive. It is a great design that is made on the arm. However, you can make it on your upper arm and even on your thighs where it would look amazing. It represents royalty.

Encircled Eagle Tattoo Design On Back

This Eagle Tattoo Design looks as if it is the symbol of something. It is made right n the top with a ship at the bottom. Probably it is a sign fo some pirate gang or something. Eagles were often considered a very popular symbol and pirates used it to show that they were strong competitors.

Tough Eagle Tattoo Design On Arm

This Eagle Tattoo Design is pretty amazing. It can be said to be before an afterimage of the eagle. The bigger eagle picture can be said to be the eagle waiting for his prey and the smaller one can represent when the eagle is ready to pounce on the prey and is flying towards it.

Pouncing Eagle Tattoo Design On Chest

This design is quite interesting. It shows a mountainous area where you can actually find a lot of eagles and predatory birds. The eagle looks very realistic here and this Eagle Tattoo Design is best to be made on the chest because it represents strength.

Attractive Eagle Tattoo Design On Back

This whole back eagle tattoo design looks pretty amazing. It is huge and is done in many colors which looks amazing. It also has a banner right at the end which says “duel in the sun”. Probably this eagle tattoo design represents strength and courage.

Pouncing Eagle Tattoo Design On Back

This amazing eagle tattoo design covers the whole of the h back in a very beautiful manner. Its wings and claws have been focused which makes it look as if it is ready for its prey. It is a great black and white design pattern.

Wonderful Eagle Tattoo Design on Body

This is a beautiful eagle tattoo design which is made on the ribs of the wearer. It also has a huge snake that he is fighting off. It represents a battle and tells a story. such huge designs are great to be made on the back or on the ribs or wherever huge spaces are available.

Fighter Eagle Tattoo Design On Chest

This amazing eagle tattoo design is very presentable and looks attractive because of its multiple color design. It looks really amazing. The design is also very creative with an olive branch in one claw and some arrows in the other.

Flier Eagle Tattoo Design on Back

This beautiful eagle tattoo design is made on the upper back where it looks rather royal. It is probably a symbol of something. It has black and red colors that look awesome.

Piercing Eagle Tattoo Design On Arm

This is a simple eagle head tattoo design which is made on the upper arm of the wearer. It is a beautiful one with not a lot of elements but it does look very realistic.

Flexible Eagle Tattoo Design On Arm

This design is inspired by the sea probably. It shows cases of an eagle who is standing on what seems like a logo. The logo has a beach scene and a banner that says “Hawaii”. So I am guessing that it can represent something related to marine life. It also has a huge anchor that is placed in the background.

Creative Eagle Tattoo Design Near Stomach

This design is pretty cute because it has a lot of amazing colors. It has various other patterns that make the design look very attractive. You can get this tattoo on your back too because it ha sample space.

Awsome Eagle Tattoo Design on Arm

This colorful eagle tattoo design s wrapped around the arm of the wearer so perfectly. It looks really amazing and you can also get something like this eagle tattoo design.

Cute Eagle Tattoo Design Behind Ear

This little eagle tattoo design behind the ear looks really awesome. You can make t detailed. Adding colors would not be an option because it is too small. However,r you can add some watercolor effect in the background.

Massive Eagle Tattoo Design On Shoulder

This beautiful eagle tattoo design is made on the arm of the wearer and looks pretty awesome. It is a great design with a watercolor effect background.

Amusing Eagle Tattoo Design On Back

This eagle tattoo design represents feelings of patriotism. It has a USA flag right behind it. It looks pretty amazing.

Dynamic Eagle Tattoo Design On Chest

This design has a lot of dimensions when it comes to suggesting a meaning. It has a fight between a snake and the eagle and also a third eye that is probably watching them.

Thoughtful Eagle Tattoo Design On Chest

This eagle tattoo design is pretty impressive. It has an amazing shading effect with a triangle and an eye watching something. It gives me the Illuminati effects and feelings. It is a great eagle tattoo design if you want to keep things a bit mysterious.

Capable Eagle Tattoo Design On Back

The eagle has spread his wings across the whole back in this eagle tattoo design. It looks pretty amazing and the shading effect looks rather amazing too.

Royalistic Eagle Tattoo Design On Arm

This eagle tattoo design is also pretty interesting. It is made on the arm with no extra colored ink except for brown, black, and white. It looks pretty real for sure.

Intelligent Eagle Tattoo Design On Arm

It is a great eagle tattoo design with a lot of colors added to the design. It is a beautiful one which is made on the wearer’s arm.

Creative Eagle Tattoo Design On Chest

I really love this whole watercolor effect that has been made on the wearer’s chest. It is a great design if you want something serious and colorful together.

Ambitious Eagle Tattoo Design On Back

This eagle has clutched a human heart in its claws. It is a beautiful design that looks pretty significant. It can actually have multiple meanings altogether. The background of this design is black.

Dynamic Eagle Tattoo Design On Arm

This eagle tattoo design is pretty amazing with a clock on its side. It can represent the power of time or your personal determination.

Handsome Eagle Tattoo Design On Chest

This huge eagle tattoo design looks pretty impressive. I like the dark shades of colors that it has which make sit look very mysterious.

Balanced Eagle Tattoo Design On Back

I really love how this eagle tattoo design is a literal translation of being black and white. Love the classic look!

Warrior Eagle Tattoo Design On Front Body

Once again the age and the snake are together. They are done with astonishing colors which makes the design very appealing.

Lovely Eagle Tattoo Design On Chest

This eagle tattoo design is pretty different. It has an eagle that is showcasing some lady. It also has a USA flag on its background which gives it a very patriotic look. The lady does not have any colors in this design but otherwise, the color makes the design look very attractive.

Massive Eagle Tattoo Design On Arm

This eagle fighting with a  separate design looks very attractive.

Angular Eagle Tattoo Design On Back

This eagle tattoo design is amazing because it shows the bird with two angles. The first picture focuses on its head and his gaze, probably. The second one shows the full flight of the bird which looks pretty amazing.

Great Eagle Tattoo Design On Arm

Here the eagle is holding a skull in its clutches. It looks pretty amazing.

Sharp Eagle Tattoo Design On Chest

I love this eagle tattoo design along with the third eye or Illuminati, probably. The whole design is black and white.

This is a beautiful and well-sketched eagle tattoo design on the man’s chest.

Eagle on Skull Tattoo Design On Arm

I love this beautifully crafted and colorful eagle tattoo design on the arm of this wearer.

Capable Eagle Tattoo Design On Chest

the eagle right her eon the man’s chest is holding a key which makes sit look very suspicious. Probably it is a symbol fo protection.

Intuitive Eagle Tattoo Design On Chest

This is pretty amazing with the mountains, ocean, and wind hurling. It shows the destructive power of the bird.

Large Mouthed Eagle Tattoo Design On Arm

This beautiful eagle tattoo design is pretty wild because eth eagle is looking very fierce.

Lovable Eagle Tattoo Design On Back

This colorful and beautiful eagle tattoo design is made exceptionally well on the back of the wearer.

Brave Eagle Tattoo Design On Chest

It is a great design that can be made on the chest.

This eagle tattoo design is pretty awesome. I like how it has been adjusted to cover the whole arm which looks pretty amazing.

Confident Eagle Tattoo Design On Arm

This is a beautiful arm design that would look amazing because of its small stature. I guess wrist designs are popular for multiple reasons, first, they are small and can have multiple elements, and second that they are very visible and so it will instantly attract a lot of attention. Although black and white tattoo designs would look amazing you can add some color to your eagle tattoo design.

Determined Eagle Tattoo Design On Arm

The additional aspect is the smoke that you can see in this eagle tattoo design which looks pretty awesome.

Ambitious Eagle Tattoo Design On Arm

This colorful eagle tattoo design is very attractive. It is holding a skull in its claws.

This eagle tattoo design has a lot of bright colors that make it look extremely attractive.

Flier Eagle Tattoo Design On Back

I love how special effects have been given to this eagle tattoo design which makes it look very realistic and amazing.

Directive Eagle Tattoo Design On Chest

It is not necessary that you make your eagle tattoo design look very realistic. In fact, you can always experiment with your eagle tattoo design and give it a whole new look.

This eagle tattoo design is pretty awesome made with a lot of colors. It looks pretty cool with these bright colors.

Small Eagle Tattoo Design On Finger

Fingers tattoo are very common and you can get your eagle tattoo design on your finger. Tiny tattoos look very stylish and this person here has a whole pirate or marine theme going on. it looks very different from the other designs.

Cool Eagle Tattoo Design On Hand

Getting a hand tattoo is pretty awesome because of the fact that it is very visible from here. It is a great design, in general.

Confident Eagle Tattoo Design On Hand

This eagle tattoo design is made on one hand and is paired with a wold tattoo on the other hand. They both can be unique in themselves but can also be paired to give a message.

Likable Eagle Tattoo Design On Arm

This eagle tattoo design has been personalized by adding a facial sketch of someone. It can be someone from your family or your favorite celeb!

Clever Eagle Tattoo Design On Arm

This beautiful eagle tattoo design is made very detailed and looks rather realistic.

Competent Eagle Tattoo Design On Shoulder

I love this eagle tattoo design which looks really spectacular.

Decisive Eagle Tattoo Design On Arm

This eagle tattoo design is beautiful as it is sitting on a tree and probably waiting for its prey. It also looks extremely creative.

Cheerful Eagle Tattoo Design On Body

You might have seen a scene like this on channels like National Geo where you can see an eagle perched on a tree. It is a beautiful design that you can make on your ribs as this wearer has.

Navigation Eagle Tattoo Design On Arm

I love this pirate theme eagle tattoo design which looks awesome.

Cool Eagle Tattoo Design On Chest

This fighter eagle tattoo design is pretty cool because the eagle is carrying a bunch of arrows.

Smart Eagle Tattoo Design On Body Side

I love this multicolored eagle tattoo design which is made on the ribs of the wearer.

This eagle tattoo design looks pretty realistic.

Efficient Eagle Tattoo Design On Chest

The eagle tattoo design here on the frontal part of the wearer has been added with a quote that says that the world is yours. You can add it if you want to inspire yourself to do better in life.

Curious Eagle Tattoo Design On Arm

Beautifully crafted eagle tattoo design on the man’s arm.

This design might not have color but look very realistic.

Adorable Eagle Tattoo Design On Chest

The two faces of the eagle and a triangle in between look pretty awesome.

Lovely Eagle Tattoo Design On Thigh

This is a beautiful swallow tattoo design that you can make on your thighs because it will look awesome. A tattoo on the thigh is not only unique but really attractive too. The shaded effect looks pretty awesome here. It might not be the most visible of the places except when you are wearing shorts, but when it is visible, it will take everyone by surprise.

Excited Eagle Tattoo Design On Chest

This is a marine symbol because the fierce eagle is holding a badge with the US flag on it.

Elated Eagle Tattoo Design On Shoulder

Like the whole scene of this eagle tattoo design and the chestnut tree, it is sitting on.

Keen Eagle Tattoo Design On Chest

The detailing and the patterns in this eagle tattoo design look amazing.

Awsome Eagle Tattoo Design On Shoulder

Can you actually see the intensity of this eagle tattoo design which looks pretty awesome?

Amazing Eagle Tattoo Design On Arm

Love teh black eagle deisgn heere.

Lively Eagle Tattoo Design On Chest

Love how this eagle tattoo design has been surrounded by significant quotes. It is made to generate confidence and motivation, probably.

Charming Eagle Tattoo Design On Arm

I love t shading effect of this eagle tattoo design.

Commendable Eagle Tattoo Design On Arm

This eagle tattoo design looks pretty much in anger and excitement.

Jubilant Eagle Tattoo Design On Arm

Really love this beautiful eagle tattoo design in action.

Fantastic Eagle Tattoo Design On Head

Getting an eagle tattoo design on the head is pretty unusual knowing that you might have to keep your hair off this particular portion for quite a while.

Massive Eagle Tattoo Design On Chest

This design looks very realistic, to be honest.

Appreciative Eagle Tattoo Design On Back

I love this bold pattern eagle tattoo design made on the arm of the wearer.

Tremendous Eagle Tattoo Design On Front Body

This full upper body of the wearer is covered in a beautiful eagle tattoo design. This is a symbol of the coat of arm of Mexico which shows an eagle and a snake in a fight. It actually comes from the belief where people built cities in ancient times when they saw an eagle and a snake on the land.

Fervent Eagle Tattoo Design On Leg

I really like this realistic eagle tattoo design.

Soothing Eagle Tattoo Design On Chest

The outline of this eagle makes for an eagle tattoo design without a doubt.

Large Eagle Tattoo Design On Shoulder

I love how majestic this eagle tattoo design looks on the man’s arm.

Aggressive Eagle Tattoo Design On Arm

Adding colors always add something extra to the eagle tattoo design.

Hot Eagle Tattoo Design On Arm

Ths eagle tattoo design has a lot of detail.

Ornamental Eagle Tattoo Design On Hand

This is a beautiful design that looks like a piece of jewelry made on the hand of the wearer right where the fingers begin.

Awsome Eagle Tattoo Design On Chest

This eagle tattoo design looks pretty somber which I am guessing is because of the color patterns.

Thoughtful Eagle Tattoo Design On Arm

Really like the dark colors and the patterns in this eagle tattoo design.

Calm Eagle Tattoo Design On Shoulder

The red tiny given to this eagle tattoo design looks pretty amazing.

Eye-catching Eagle Tattoo Design On Arm

The gaze of the eagle in this eagle tattoo design is matched with the gaze of this person.

Soothing Eagle Tattoo Design Near Stomach

I like how this tribal eagle tattoo design is made on the ribs carrying a rose with it.

Worthy Eagle Tattoo Design On Arm

This eagle tattoo design looks pretty awesome with a blue background that looks like a halo over his head.

This eagle tattoo design is relatively simple and yet so compulsive.

Creative Eagle Tattoo Design On Body

In many cultures, this symbol of eagle and snake represents victory fo good over evil. I really love the design because it has such amazing colors added.

Daring Eagle Tattoo Design On Chest

Here the eagle is holding a banner which says struggle. It is a great design with a lot fo colorful patterns.

Smart Eagle Tattoo Design On Chest

It feels like this eagle tattoo design is pretty selective. The bird is flying through the hefty air.

Flier Eagle Tattoo Design On Arm

This eagle tattoo design looks pretty amazing!

Fighter Eagle Tattoo Design On Arm

This eagle tattoo design would look best on the leg, either front part, the side, or the calves muscles, any part of the leg. Leg design serves to be a bit longer if you compare it to the wider designs.   Colors can be added with an eagle tattoo design if it is on a visible part of the body. Since legs are somewhat apparent most of the time, especially for girls, you can select and add some patterns too like here the American flag has been added. On the other hand, you can also use black ink to sketch the design or get a shaded effect to make it look more aesthetic. These days watercolor effect looks notably rad too.

Extraordinary Eagle Tattoo Design On Shoulder

I really love this design which has a lot of tiny detailing. A great work of art.

I really love this eagle tattoo design made on the bicep of this man. It looks very engaging and seems like the eagle ha been staring right thru the man’s soul.

Determined Eagle Tattoo Design On Chest

This brown and black shaded eagle tattoo design looks pretty amazing on the man’s chest.

Wonderful Eagle Tattoo Design On Arm

This beautiful eagle tattoo design with the American flag must have been made with some colors according to me. It looks pretty awesome.

Colorful Eagle Tattoo Design On Chest

Writing texts can be really awesome when making your eagle tattoo design because it attaches a lot of gravity and weight to your eagle tattoo design. This is a beautiful design with some amazing bright colors that have been made on the skin of the wearer. You can also research and supplement some other elements to this design, for instance, this anchor that symbolizes stability and trust.

Articulate Eagle Tattoo Design On Chest

This is a pretty colorful eagle tattoo design on this man’s chest which looks very attractive.

Gracious Eagle Tattoo Design On Shoulder

I love the skills and the detailing of the tattoo artist who has made this eagle tattoo design.

Comical Eagle Tattoo Design On Arm

This beautiful colored eagle tattoo design would look especially amazing on your arm because it has all the beautiful and bright colors that will instantly attract the consciousness of anyone who is looking at this design. You can get it in other places too. Adding some elements like the mirror which has been added in this particular design, would definitely always help!

Genuine Eagle Tattoo Design On Head

This eagle tattoo design is made on the backside of the man’s head which I must say is very daring.

Jolly Eagle Tattoo Design On Chest

It is a pretty colorful tattoo design that is made on the man’s chest.

Amazing Eagle Tattoo Design On Chest

I love this creative and realistic eagle tattoo design on the man’s back.

Starry Eyed Eagle Tattoo Design On Shoulder

The tearing effect on this eagle tattoo design looks pretty amazing because it has sharp claws anyway. It is a great design with the American flag on it.

Amiable Eagle Tattoo Design On Chest

This eagle tattoo design is rather feisty and I love it absolutely because it is very different from other designs on this list. This is a beautiful one which focuses on the gaze of the eagle. It seems as if the eagle is looking at its prey with so much determination and probably that is exactly what this tattoo stands for too.

Warrior Eagle Tattoo Design On Back

This eagle tattoo design showcases the whole scene of the army. The army men have to be placed in different areas and thus it might be very difficult for them to survive through the day without some sort of confidence or consolation. Thus, the eagle can be seen as a symbol of strength.

A medium-sized eagle bird tattoo on the arm looks very chic. This eagle tattoo design is pretty simple with some beautiful shading effects. It is mostly done in black ink. Adding colors might definitely add to the overall look to the design and makes it look even more attractive. It is a great design that you can get on your arm or even your thigh.

Making an eagle tattoo design doe snot mean that it has to look serious and grim. Colors bring a lot of playfulness and joy to tattoo design and make sit look creative. It is a great design that has been done on the upper arm, however, I would like to make it on my forearm where it could be more visible.

This eagle has two heads. It could be a symbol of some sort of cult. At this point in time, it could be a symbol for anything or anyone. No matter what, this eagle tattoo design looks very audacious. I really like it.

Victorious Eagle Tattoo Design On Chest

This beautiful eagle tattoo design is made on the chest with the flag of the USA. It can be said to be a very patriotic and beautiful design. The eagle is done in black and white ink but the flag in the background is colored and done by using blue, white, and red inks.

Flowery Eagle Tattoo Design On Chest

Here the eagle might look in so much anger but it is actually carrying a rose where he should be catching or clutching his prey. The sign is done with black and grey ink but the background has been given to the eagle tattoo design to make it look a bit more attractive.

Honorable Eagle Tattoo Design On Chest

I love that this eagle tattoo design looks pretty modernistic. It is a beautiful design that can be made on the chest like it is made here. I really like how it ha been placed here. The colors look beautiful and the patterns are also very enthralling.

Extraordinary Eagle Tattoo Design On Back

This design covers the whole of the ack. It has a lot of symbolism going on instead of just the eagle. It has thundering clouds that represent adversity, roaring waves that represent calamity, and a steering wheel that is used by sailors. Thus it is a great and magnificent eagle tattoo design.

Awsome Eagle Tattoo Design On Neck

If you want, you can use a simple eagle tattoo design like this one by using just the black ink outline which would look pretty simple and decent but still amazing. Simple tattoos are usually chosen by people who are more concerned with what the tattoo means rather than what t signifies.

Directive Eagle Tattoo Design On Neck

If you want your eagle tattoo design to look chic, then the neck is the best placement idea. You can place it on the side of the neck or on the nape of the neck. This eagle tattoo design is medium in size with a little compass added to it. However, you have to make sure that your design is not too big in size as smalls designs look better in these areas.

Blissful Eagle Tattoo Design On Shoulder

You can see that this eagle tattoo design is pretty awesome because where the eagle looks in so much anger. It is a wonderful design that you can make on your upper arm and which looks pretty amazing. I really like how it is fixed on the shoulder and covers the whole space wisely.

This feisty eagle tattoo design looks very amazing. I love how it has spread its wings. It is very delirious. It is a great design that has covered the upper part of the chest of this wearer. The details are magnificent. It is a beautiful one for sure and needs a lot of skills.

Symbolic Eagle Tattoo Design On Back

You do not have to get an actual eagle that looks very realistic. In fact, you can get a symbol of the eagle-like here. It can be a symbol of some institute or some organization. It looks pretty tribal and stylish. It is a great design for the top of the back. Another great idea for you is to place it on your waist.

Brilliant Eagle Tattoo Design On Leg

This eagle tattoo design is made on the leg of the wearer. It shows an eagle that is standing on the head of his prey, probably. The skulls bring a very creepy and mysterious vibe to the whole design. It looks pretty amazing with the black and grey inks merged together.

Lovable Eagle Tattoo Design On Hand

This eagle tattoo design on the hand is absolutely gorgeous. It represents a beautiful colored eagle tattoo design who is looking keenly at some distance and done with beautiful blue shade along with an American flag right behind him. It is a great design to be made on hand and super attractive.

Cute Eagle Tattoo Design On Arm

The simple eagle tattoo design with black ink on the arms looks pretty amazing. I love the beautiful patterns that it can offer even without the colors and just dark shading effects which give it a serious look. The bird looks rather amusing but the whole design is done with a very momentous effect.

Hunter Eagle Tattoo Design On Arm

This eagle tattoo design on the upper arm is carrying a skull. It shows that the eagle is a predator who believes in conquering that which he has eyes on. It is a great design with a beautiful black shading effect. It is quite simple but looks attractive.

Adventurous Eagle Tattoo Design On Stomach

This design is very simple yet so realistic. The person has madded numerous animals on his stomach. He has the eagle and the snake fighting for one, and the second, he has a butterfly right on top. The meaning might be associated or not, but we know that we can be as creative with our eagle tattoo design as we want.

Beautiful Eagle Tattoo Design On Arm

I really love this beautifully made eagle tattoo design because it seems as if it is guarding something. It seems like an emblem of some sort, probably some army or military background. It also has a little shield with him which is a symbol of protection. It is a warrior eagle tattoo design

Ambitious Eagle Tattoo Design On Shoulder

This beautiful black and white eagle tattoo design look pretty awesome. It is done on the upper arm and the chest of the wearer. It has a beautiful shading effect which makes it look very realistic. It is a smart design and would impress many onlookers.

Sunny Eagle Tattoo Design On Arm

This eagle tattoo design is also done in a tribal manner but it looks pretty beautiful. I especially like the red colored object behind his head which can be said to be a sun or just a halo. So whatever you think it is, you must get it done. Designs and meanings can be pretty subjective.

This eagle tattoo design made on the chest of the wearer is made with different tribal patterns. It also shows the story of the eagle and the snake fighting. It is a beautiful design with three major colors, black, yellow, and red which are often associated with all the primary designs.

Astonishing Eagle Tattoo Design On Chest

This eagle tattoo design looks pretty amazing with the eagle done in different colored inks and the other elements done with an outline like the skull. The serpent too has a lot of bright colors which makes this eagle tattoo design on the chest the best design that you can have.

Artistic Eagle Tattoo Design on Back

This eagle tattoo design would look amazing when made in open spaces like the back or chest. It offers a lot of space and best if you want to show a whole scene instead of just the eagle or any other bird. Here, the eagle is attacking a vicious snake that looks pretty grave. Colors would certainly enhance the patterns but you can also choose the black ink tattoo with shading effect or just the outline like it is done in this particular tattoo design. Going abstract is also a great way to design your tattoo. This eagle tattoo is best when inked on the chest, back, or ribs. This tattoo would look perfect when inked in large size. The eagle tattoo design looks good on people with any skin tone because it is large in size.

These were all the 100 amazing Eagle tattoo design which has a very symbolic meaning in life. Hope this list could help you select your perfect eagle tattoo design!

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56 Eagles Tattoo Ideas

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If you’re looking for a tattoo that exudes strength, power, and freedom, then an eagle tattoo might be just what you need. Eagles are majestic birds that have long been associated with power, courage, and the ability to soar to great heights. Whether you want a small and simple eagle tattoo or a large and intricate design, there are plenty of Eagles Tattoo Ideas to choose from.

An eagle tattoo can be a great way to express your patriotism, your love of nature, or your personal beliefs. With so many different styles and designs to choose from, you’re sure to find an eagle tattoo that suits your personality and individual style. Some popular Eagle Tattoo Ideas include:

• Traditional eagle tattoos featuring bold lines and bright colors
• Realistic eagle tattoos that look like photographs of the bird
• Tribal eagle tattoos featuring intricate patterns and bold black lines
• Eagle wings tattoos that span across the shoulders or back
• Eagle head tattoos that are small and simple, or large and detailed
• Patriotic eagle tattoos that incorporate the American flag or other patriotic symbols

When choosing an eagle tattoo , it’s important to consider the placement of the tattoo, the size of the design, and the level of detail you want. You’ll also want to work with a skilled tattoo artist who can help bring your vision to life. With the right design and the right artist, an eagle tattoo can be a stunning and powerful addition to your body art collection.

Eagles Tattoo Ideas

Tips for Picking an Eagle Tattoo

When it comes to choosing an eagle tattoo, there are a few things to consider. Eagles are a popular tattoo choice due to their symbolism of freedom, strength, and power. Here are some tips on how to pick the perfect eagle tattoo:

• Consider the eagle’s position and style : Eagles can be depicted in various positions, such as soaring, perched, or attacking. Additionally, they can be drawn in various styles, such as realistic, tribal, or abstract. Choose a position and style that resonates with you and your personality.
• Think about the placement : Eagle tattoos can look great on various parts of the body, such as the chest, back, or arm. Consider the size of the tattoo and choose a placement that will complement it.
• Symbolism : Eagles are associated with various cultures and beliefs, such as patriotism, Native American traditions, and Christianity. Consider what symbolism you want your eagle tattoo to represent.
• Color : Decide whether you want a black and white or colored eagle tattoo. A colored tattoo can add dimension and vibrancy, while a black and white tattoo can look classic and timeless.
• Research artists : Look for an experienced tattoo artist who has a strong portfolio of eagle tattoos. Choose an artist who can bring your vision to life and has the technical skills to execute it.

By considering these factors, you can choose an eagle tattoo that not only looks great but also holds personal meaning and symbolism to you.

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Wild Tattoo Art

155+ eagle tattoo design ideas you must consider.

Every tattoo has a distinct meaning to it, over the years people have been inking their bodies with various birds, and the most supreme of them all is an eagle. An eagle tattoo has numerous designs, and each manifests a different meaning.

Let us look at some popular eagle tattoos designs and why one should consider it.

Perched Eagle Tattoo Designs

A perched eagle tattoo design signifies that the person wearing it is healthy, provisional, and highly energetic.

This kind of tattoo shows an eagle sitting on top of the rocky mountain or a string branch. Also, this tattoo shows that you’re protective of your things in life whether it’s your family, friends, near and far kin, it displays you as an individual who is caring, and looking out people connected to him/her.

Tribal Eagle Tattoo Designs

A tribal eagle tattoo design is famous between Americans, as it shows a strengthening bond with numerous tribes and their fluctuating natures.

This kind of tattoo design shows an eagle with open wings which indirectly depicts that you are supreme and have authority over anything you wish either it’s your life, people you connect with or your long-term goals and ambitions.

The most popular of the tribal tattoo design is an “eagle with fuming flames”, and often inked on the back or shoulders.

The other tattoo design includes an eagle inked in a way that it looks like it’s aiming to fly higher with eyes pointed above and partially closed because of the wind-resisting. This signifies that its pace is elevating but won’t stop until there. This indirectly shows that the individual wearing it is powerful, persistent in his/her decisions and won’t give up until achieved what the person aimed in the first place.

Fighting Eagle Tattoo Designs

A fighting eagle tattoo is a representation of many emotions, some of which are listed below:

• Determination

Powerful Tattoo Design on the Back

This tattoo is seen to be inked on the whole back, this way it is visible to the outside world, as the magnified tattoo shows that the person who wore it, is not afraid to covey his intentions and ambitions to the world and has a bold nature. Also, stays firm on his/her decisions and has a higher endurance level than other, evidence that proves this can be how they undergo getting such a large tattoo, which hurts big time.

Eagle with Its Prey

One of the fighting eagle designs is where an eagle is shown to be holding its prey tightly, and such designs depict two meanings. First, you’re powerful, mentally and spiritually and secondly, you stay firm with your actions and life decisions.

Patriotic Eagle Tattoo Design

An eagle is like an apple of the US eyes, the reason; it is their national bird and signified as a symbol of “freedom.”

Patriotic eagle design is highly popular within the armed forces, as they take pride in inking their nation’s flag on their body and adding an eagle to it makes them look even more powerful than ever.

Eagle Feathers Tattoo Design

You can ink the eagle feather tattoo design in many ways, but all have one meaning, i.e., healing, and resonating with the nature around you. In a nutshell, it’s a way of expressing that you’re in the process of purifying your soul from past mistakes and regrets that have deeply wounded you, but you’re ready to forgive and forget.

There are several ways to can ink the eagle feather on your body. Some individuals opt for a single feather tied up with a string often inked on shoulders and knees. The single feather is an ultimate symbol saying that you’re ready to accept yourself and work towards self-love before you share that part with someone else.

Others tend to get two eagle features flowing randomly. This is a depiction of a situation where an individual believes that he/she is finally free from all worries, and they are ready to go with the flow and not worry too much. This design is usually on the ankles, the Side of the neck, stomach, back, and shoulders.

Eagle Head Tattoo Design

An eagle head tattoo is inked in different designs also all sizes. Adding, some get an eagle head in color, others go for a black in white design. Anyway, the meaning behind the head design remains the same, which is vision and focus.

The eagle head tattoo originated from Iraq and then gradually spread to the people of Europe and Russia.

This kind of design usually features on the shoulders and back. For a magnified look, inking it on the back and chest would do the job. However, if you want the world to see the tattoo, go for the shoulders, Ankles, back of the neck or lower leg area.

Eagles head tattoo has a distinct feature of expressing your mindset as strong and highly composed. Also, just like an eagle, alert, and highly observant.

Eagle Quote Tattoo Design

If you’re one of those who can’t decide what you want or have a lot of designs in mind, then its best to get an eagle quoted tattoo design inked to your different body parts. This quote will help you express various emotions at once. Honestly, it all depends on the choice of the quote.

Here are some short quotes that you can ink along with the eagle.

• Free and Fearless : This quote is self-explanatory, but there are several other expressions attached to this three-word saying, some of which are bold, courageous, dynamic, and unbound.
• Fly, and You’ll Be Free: We often hear people telling us the sky is the limit, and who hasn’t looked at the sky and wished that one day they fly like the eagle does, free and furiously. This quote is the perfect representation of that feeling.
• Honesty, Freedom, and Kindness: Simplest quote of all, it perfectly defines the life purpose and the right way to live in the shortest form ever. Honesty and kindness are the ultimate secrets of a successful life, and freedom is what every person around the world wishes to achieve.

This quote design is usually inked on the arms and neck, and considered better if colored.

Bald Eagle Tattoo Design

Bald eagle tattoo design has zero gender boundaries and both the sexes can perfectly flaunt it, whether it’s colored or black and white, bigger or smaller. It has absolutely no space for restrictions and disagreements.

Bald eagle designs are highly flexible and can be rendered according to one’s needs and wants. Some people like it as merged in the US flag; others prefer it with only inked with only black lines. Also, a recent trend is to ink it as the original eagle color and with fierce looking eyes.

The design originated from a region where Native Americans took the tattoo as pride and sign of freedom.

Since then, it has been gaining a ton of attention as freedom is one thing every person craves for.

Flying Eagle Tattoo Design

A flying eagle tattoo design shows an eagle with widely spread out wings that symbolize a feeling of freedom and spiritual strength; also a strong urge of wisdom flushes through the tattoo wearer.

You can get this tattoo at different angles, some prefer a side view where one wing is visible, and the other partially sees. Moreover, most famous of the designs are on the chest with a front view that signifies power and courage to opt for constant risk and be fearless while onto a mission.

A flying tattoo is diverse and looks equally attractive in color or non-colored, thick or thin lines, and shaded or not shaded.

When getting a flying tattoo design, it is better to consider having a huge medium for it like back or your chest, as the wings if not widely spread then it ultimately kills the vibe.

Eagle Eye Tattoo Design

Eagle eye tattoo design is considered to be one of the most popular between youngsters and adults aged over 35. The tattoo symbolizes to portray a clear and focused sight. Also, it shows that the tattoo wearer is determined and always looking out for someone who can cause some trouble in any way.

One eagle eye tattoo design featured on most websites showed an eagle flying but having looking above the sky which represents that while it moves forward, it still looks back for any threat and at the same time stays focused on its prey too.

Similarly, a person with an eagle eye tattoo tends to show his intentions as powerful and highly focused in terms of their ambitions and to what extent they are passionate and determined to fulfill each one of them.

Eagle eye tattoos come in many different forms. Some prefer it with closed wings, and others tend only to get the eyes separately made usually on the hands, shoulders, and upper back.

This is the only design that looks better in black and white than colored. Shaded or not shaded doesn’t matter, because it’s highly flexible and looks great in both ways.

Eagle Along With Snake Tattoo Design

At times we’re at a stage of life where we usually retaliate to everything even the smallest things that deserve zero opposition. To express such feeling, most people prefer getting an eagle fighting with a snake tattoo inked to their exposed part of the body.

So before anyone even think of interrupting their thoughts and personal space, they instantly get the idea that they would retaliate that too fiercely and there’s no way they are letting wrongdoers slide away from their hands.

According to many leading websites based on tattoos and their history described an eagle and snake tattoo as a perfect representation of conflict. Conflict can be between any two mediums, for example, it can be your mind and heart, you and your life situations, a conflict between choosing the right and wrong, holding on or letting go and much more.

It is advisable to get a colored and thick lined eagle and snake tattoo. The stronger the message it holds, the more magnified the design should be, so every eye catches it and never mistake you as weak and defeated instead stay prepared and draw lines beforehand.

Bottom Line

History shows that the trend of getting an eagle tattoo is evergreen. Rather, the popularity has been elevating. Plus, advancement in technology has allowed all techies to design a personalized eagle tattoo design that fits accurately with their life situation and their feelings. Luckily, this made the job of all tattoo makers much easier and highly efficient than it was before.

So, what are you waiting for? Take a moment alone for self-reflection and think about your current feelings and note down what you want to tell the world. When done, search for an eagle tattoo that describes everything you’ve been searching all this time.

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33 Remarkable Eagle Tattoo Ideas

The eagle is the world’s strongest bird, and it represents power, strength, courage, and focus. Getting an eagle tattoo signifies that you have the confidence to face any challenge in life. It also implies that you have the ability to overcome any temptations that may arise in your life.

Eagle tattoos are stunning. Whether you get a tattoo of a flying eagle or a golden eagle , it is always going to come out beautiful. This tattoo is perfect for those who keep their attention on whatever they’re doing and don’t look back until they’ve achieved their goal. If you want to show that you have the power and strength to do anything, you should get an eagle tattoo.

Eagles are robust, powerful, and quick. They are gorgeous creatures with incredible strength and power. Eagles are revered creatures who represent courage, strength, power, and vision. When someone is described as having eagle eyes, it suggests they are exceptionally observant and can see for miles.

Eagles were thought to be brave by the Native Americans, and they also represent someone with the vision and power to accomplish something in life.

Eagle tattoo ideas

Eagle arm tattoo

This type of tattoo symbolizes strength because eagle is a very strong animal, so if you get eagle arm tattoo done that means you are very strong to overcome any obstacles that comes your way in life.

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50+ Ghost Tattoo Ideas to Get Inspired By | Bonus: Their Meanings

• September 14, 2022

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Gloomy and fantastic tattoo themes are becoming more and more popular every year. You can meet people with tattoos of demons, skulls, and ghosts very often. Tattoo designs of a large size on the chest , arms, and other body parts are the most common among guys.

But the uniqueness of the ghost tattoo is that you can get both a serious & gloomy design and a minimalistic & cute one. The second type is more spread among women because it looks more neat and feminine.

In this article, we have gathered 50+ of the most unusual and attractive ghost tattoo designs . Moreover, we will introduce you to the top 5 tattoo artists who will help you implement ghost tattoos in the best way.

What Does a Ghost Tattoo Mean?

The basic meaning of the ghost tattoo is the fearlessness of its owner. It is because many people since childhood are afraid of ghosts, demons, skeletons, otherworldly spirits, and other fictional living horror and fairy tale characters. At the same time, people who get a ghost tattoo, challenge their fears and become courageous. Also, the ghost tattoo design is considered a talisman against evil spirits and troubles. It can make its owner more self-confident.

50+ Ghost Tattoo Adorable Ideas

Ghost tattoo designs can also vary because everyone imagines these fictional characters differently. For example, some imagine them as cute (or want to implement them on their bodies this way to challenge a fear), while others imagine them as monsters or even living skeletons. So the appearance of a ghost tattoo depends only on you and your imagination.

A cute ghost tattoo is the best choice for people with a good sense of humor. These designs are created in a cartoon style, gaining even more uniqueness and irregularity of the idea.

A cute ghost tattoo means :

• 🎀 Naughtiness;
• 🎀 Youthfulness;
• 🎀 Good sense of humor;
• 🎀 Positivity;
• 🎀 Friendliness;
• 🎀 Openness.

Two ghosts most often represent a couple of ghosts in love . Therefore, such a tattoo design would be a great fit:

• 💕 As couple tattoos ;
• 💕 To romantic natures;
• 💕 In honor of your other half;
• 💕 To creative individuals who like to dream;
• 💕 To fans of fairy tales and beautiful love stories.

“Boo” ghosts are a great cartoon design for those who want to show themselves and the world that there is nothing scary about them. This tattoo idea proves to everyone that we shouldn’t be afraid of something that seems insanely scary, just because we made it up for ourselves.

Undoubtedly, it all depends on our thinking and perception. If we imagine ghosts to be very cute, as in the designs above, their “boo” will not scare us.

The ghost cat tattoo design takes on a more playful meaning. This idea means that its owner likes to take risks and does not mind “playing hide and seek” with otherworldly forces.

Moreover, the ghost cat tattoo means :

• 😸 The nocturnal lifestyle;
• 😸 Love of adventure.

Mario Ghost

Boo Diddley is a cartoon ghost, Mario’s adversary in games and movies. They are memorable for their white ball-shaped image and different facial expressions: with tongue or teeth.

Mario ghost tattoo means :

• 👻 Laughter;
• 👻 Protection from fears;
• 👻 Avoidance of trouble;
• 👻 Playing with danger.

Halloween Ghost

There are many fans of the colorful and mysterious Halloween holiday . The most common symbols of this scariest night of the year are:

• Pumpkins 🎃;
• Witches 🧙‍♀️;

Therefore, Halloween ghost tattoo designs are also complemented by the rest of the symbols of this holiday. It makes the tattoo ideas even more atmospheric and attractive.

In recent years, large drawings, graphics, and watercolors are being replaced by minimalist tattoos . They are gaining trend positions on all tattoo themes and ideas. The minimalism style’s popularity is explained not only by the quick and less painful process of getting a design but also by the easy care for tattoos :

• ✔️ It is easier for you to hide the design from direct sunlight;
• ✔️ It is easier, faster, and more economical to moisturize the tattoo area with cream;
• ✔️ A smaller area of damaged skin, which means the healing is faster and better;
• ✔️ After the session, you can put on a much smaller piece of the particular healing film, which will help the tattoo not to bleed for a long time and heal in 4-6 days.

Using a small film will help you save money and time in changing it later.

Realistic ghost tattoos are darker than the rest, as they lose their cute cartoon style. Also, a quote inscription is a great way to diversify your realism tattoo design .

Realism is the most complex style, so you should contact a competent artist for a high-quality design. On our website, you can find the most suitable tattoo artist nearby and apply to him to get a realistic ghost tattoo.

Traditional

The American traditional tattoo is the most known and common style. Its main advantage is harmony throughout:

• 🌺 The color scheme;
• 🌺 The precise black outline;
• 🌺 A wide variety of designs;
• 🌺 Densely painted patches of color.

Sometimes old-school ghost tattoo designs are complemented by the dotwork technique. Such tattoos look like a cartoon from the 40s of the 20th century. For example, they are similar to the 1945 cartoon “The Friendly Ghost” about the cute character Casper.

Dotwork tattoo is one of the most recognizable styles because its main feature is creating a design out of dots. To darken a tattoo part, you need to make more dots. And to lighten it, you need to make the distance between them longer and the concentration per area smaller.

The main advantages of the dotwork ghost tattoo are:

• ✓ High contrast;
• ✓ Neatness;
• ✓ Easy readability of the design at long distances;
• ✓ Textured and lively look;
• ✓ Versatility (can be combined with any style of tattoo).

The fingers are not the most practical area for tattooing, as the design can fade in 1-3 months after the session. It happens for the following reasons:

• → The skin on the fingers is often renewed more often than in other parts of the body;
• → The tattoo on the fingers is constantly exposed to sunlight;
• → Hands are constantly in motion, which stimulates the tattoo to fade faster due to the fingers’ increased friction.

Men’s forearm tattoos with ghosts are usually large and complex designs. It can be a several ghosts tattoo composition or a single large character design. Also, the most popular styles for these tattoos are realism and dotwork.

Women mostly prefer smaller tattoo ideas. They look more harmonious on a woman’s thin and slender arm. Ghost tattoo designs in the minimalist style look more cute and gentle.

Both tattoo artists and their clients love arm tattoos . The reasons are the following:

• The skin in this place does not sag and does not stretch. From time to time, small and large details of the ghost design do not deteriorate. Therefore, you do not have to go to a second session to restore them.
• The skin in this place is smooth and even. Therefore, it will be easier for the tattoo artist to work on the fine details of your ghost tattoo.

Ghost tattoo designs on the leg are most often elongated due to the structural features of the limbs. It allows you to, for example, fantasize about what this character would look like with legs.

As a result, you will get an unusual design that will emphasize your identity and decorate a body part that you can show others if you wear short clothes.

Best Ghost Tattoo Artists

The choice of a qualified tattoo artist is one of the most significant factors that should be considered before getting a high-quality ghost tattoo. If you choose an attractive and desirable design but can’t do it perfectly, it won’t do you any good. So don’t mess with fate and trust this responsible step to professionals.

We have selected the top 5 tattoo artists who will implement the desired tattoo ghost design for you without any problems.

There can be many reasons for choosing a ghost tattoo design , but two main ones stand out among them.

• You don’t like to go with the flow and blend in with the crowd? Choose one design among 50+ ghost tattoo ideas!
• You are brave and not afraid to face your fears – this tattoo idea is just for you!

If you fit these descriptions (or even not), choose one of the 50+ ghost tattoo ideas listed in our article, find out their meanings, find the right tattoo artist, and scare your fears!

👻 What Do Ghost Tattoo Designs Mean?

The main meaning of a ghost tattoo is courage and the ability to face your fears.

💪 What Are the Best Parts To Get a Ghost Tattoo?

The best body parts for a ghost tattoo are the forearm, arm, fingers, and leg. Designs in these places are less painful to receive than in others. Also, they look very harmonious, emphasizing your strengths and hiding your flaws.

✍️ Why Choose the Ghost Tattoo?

A ghost tattoo is perfect for both men and women because it can be both intimidating and cute.

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12 Tattoos as Symbols of Strength

Strength is something everyone can relate to. Whether we have it now, have shown it in the past or need it in the future, it is a human quality much in demand. It can mean different things to people, which is why it is such a great meaning to have in mind when looking for a new tattoo design.

For some people, strength might symbolize their physical might. For others, it could mean mental strength and endurance. Some people may be choosing a design that expresses their strength in the face of physical or emotional pain.

Whatever the reason, with so many rich possibilities to choose from, investing the time in selecting the right design to express personal strength will be an enjoyable process.

Choosing single words and characters from different languages that literally mean strength or capture the overall meaning is definitely worth considering.

On the other hand, it’s also a very visible statement of strength to have a large tattoo done. The endurance it takes to sit for the design to be executed speaks volumes about the wearer’s fortitude. It’s also a great opportunity to go for a spectacular design that is a work of art as well as meaningful to the wearer.

Animal Symbols

An eagle tattoo design can carry a range of meanings for the wearer, including strength. In Ancient Greece, the eagle represented masculine strength and virility .

The eagle was the bird of prey the Greeks most closely associated with the god of sky and thunder, Zeus. As the King of Gods, who ruled on Mount Olympus, his symbol is an eagle carrying a lightning bolt in its beak.

Native Americans also believed the eagle was a symbol of lightning and thunderbolts, representing spiritual strength and power . An eagle tattoo design with wings spread in full flight looks amazing across the chest or back.

Related Post: Reach For the Sky with a Wings Tattoo

The lion is the archetypal animal representing strength as well as courage . It also symbolizes Leo, the fifth sign of the zodiac. Born under the sign of Leo, the singer Demi Lovato has a lion’s face tattooed on her right hand.

With so many associations for people, it’s no wonder the King of the Jungle is a popular tattoo design choice for so many. Hyper-realistic tattoo styles work well with animal designs. A male lion with a full mane in a large design can be breath-taking. Some people have a crown tattooed on to the head of the lion.

Related Post: The Symbolism and Meaning of Lion Tattoos

With their striking markings and coloring, tigers are a popular animal tattoo motif that symbolizes strength. The tiger symbolizes strength, courage and longevity in Japan.

The Japanese culture considers these big cats to be a talisman, warding off bad luck. A tiger tattoo is particularly suited to the Japanese style of tattoo design, with the use of strong color and black.

The Japanese tiger tattoo makes for a stunning large tattoo, featured on the back, shoulder or as part of a sleeve design. Tiger tattoos also work well in the hyper-realistic style and this is a popular choice for both men and women alike.

Related Post: Should You Have a Big Cat Tattoo

Justin Bieber’s bear tattoo is the head of snarling grizzly or brown bear. These American bears are a symbol long associated with Native American culture and traditions. The bear was considered by indigenous tribes to be a noble warrior, possessed of great strength, power and bravery .

There are other bear tattoo designs available, think teddy bear, but if strength is the meaning you seek then it’s got to be a grizzly.

Wolves, like bears, are common in Native American culture but are also a familiar totem in Europe and Asia. In Norse culture, witches and giantesses were portrayed with wolves as their steeds. Siberian folk tales have wolves represented as heroes, protecting children from harm.

Similarly, in Japan, mythical stories feature wolves that protect humans. Maybe this was the inspiration for the dire wolves that protect the Stark family in the show Game of Thrones.

One belief about wolves is that if you tell a wolf a secret, it will relieve the teller of the heavy burden of keeping the secret. The wolf could be trusted to keep the secret for eternity. Like lion tattoos, wolf tattoo designs also complement the hyper-real tattoo style.

Dire wolves which originated in North America are now sadly extinct, but they live on in people’s minds through the heroics of the Stark children’s dire wolves such as Gray Wind and Ghost.

In fact, the actress Sophie Turner, who played Sansa Stark in the series had a very stylized dire wolf emblem of House of Stark tattooed on the back of her left forearm over the words ‘The pack survives’. It’s fair to say that wolves represent the particular strength associated with survival .

Related Post: The Symbolism and Meaning of a Wolf Tattoo

If the lion is the King of the Jungle, a stage is the King of the Forest . A full-antlered stag is a potent symbol of strength and is a popular choice for a tattoo design.

Linked to Pagan cultures in Europe and Scandinavia, it was believed that the changing seasons were attributable to the Horned Celtic God of the forest called Cernunnos and the Mother Goddess.

Stag and antler motifs are also part of Native American traditions and feature in the oral culture of myths and legends. Stag tattoos can be realistic or more tribal in design. A proud stag depicted on a mountainside or in the midst of a forest may resonate strongly with people who have Scottish ancestry.

For people who like the idea of horned animal designs, but feel that a stag is not quite right for them, it might also be worth considering a bull tattoo. Just as the lion represents the zodiac sign of Leo, the bull represents the sign of Taurus.

A bull is the epitome of strength and power and comes in a range of designs from tribal motifs to the whole animal with bulging muscles, the head only or a skull with horns.

Bull tattoos are most often seen done in predominantly black ink, although red is also popular. They are a very strong visual statement tattoo and should be approached with care!

Horses represent both strength and freedom . Who doesn’t want both of those qualities in their life? The year of the horse is also a Chinese zodiac sign, so might appeal to people born under that sign.

The fortunes of humans and horses have been intertwined throughout history, with horses even featuring in paleolithic cave art dating back over twenty-five thousand years.

From a portrait design tribute to a much-loved domestic pet or sports horse to a wild mustang or warhorse, any horse tattoo is rich with meaning for the wearer. Singer Iggy Azalea has an unusual tattoo design of a magnificent horse blindfolded on her right forearm.

Azalea is now known for her love of horse riding and bought two horses called Defender and Strictly Business in 2015. Not long after becoming an owner, the star tweeted her appreciation for the inner strength that horses had given her. “Horses saved my life and now I have two and it’s all good. Now I have discovered another passion”.

Related Post: Dog/Pet Tattoos: Meaning and Symbolism

Mythical Beasts

With the massive success of the Game of Thrones series, dragon tattoos maintain their popularity with both men and women. To fully appreciate the magnificence of a dragon tattoo it is advisable to make this a larger design for the back or shoulder, where the beast can be seen in all its fire-breathing scaly glory! A dragon tattoo is also effective as part of a full sleeve design.

Dragons are prominent in Chinese and Japanese mythological culture. Whilst they symbolize strength, there are other meanings attributed to these dragons depending on the color of the ink and type of dragon.

If a dragon tattoo is under consideration, do not overlook the intricate designs for the Celtic dragon, a somewhat darker beast associated with a warrior-like, masculine energy.

Related Post: Dragon Tattoos: Symbolism and Meaning

10. Phoenix

In Chinese tradition, the dragon and the phoenix represent the balance of yin and yang. This combined design makes for a powerful tattoo design which symbolizes different aspects of strength. There is the raw physical strength and firepower of the dragon combined with the strength to be reborn and rise from the ashes like the phoenix.

A phoenix on its own is also a popular tattoo design, but like a dragon design, needs a larger surface area on the body. This makes the shoulder or back a suitable area for placement. As the phoenix is linked to flame, yellows, reds and oranges can make striking color combinations.

Related Post: What Do Phoenix Tattoos Symbolize?

11. Griffin

The griffin, also spelled gryphon, is a winged hybrid beast which combines the strength of a lion in its body and the power of an eagle for its head. Ancient Greeks thought that the griffin was a messenger from the gods.

Indeed, a griffin pulled the chariot of the Greek god Apollo, the god of light. Apollo was also represented in art as riding on the back of one of these fantastical creatures.

Even today, griffins are to be found around us if we keep our eyes open. They can often be seen on coats of arms and in decorative stone carving on old buildings and monuments. A griffin makes a striking tattoo design, one that all born leaders should give serious consideration to having.

Related Post: Greek Gods And Goddesses Tattoo Ideas

12. Centaur

The centaur is an unusual beast, half man and half horse. The creature has the head and upper body of a human with the lower body and legs of a horse. The centaur is also the symbol of the zodiac sign Sagittarius where the centaur is portrayed as an archer holding a bow.

As well as the warrior connections of a centaur with a bow, Sagittarius is a fire sign, ruled by Jupiter. In Roman mythology, Jupiter was considered to be both the King of the Gods, and the god of thunder. All strong references for a centaur tattoo.

Centaurs make for a more unusual tattoo design and the strength they embody is less obvious than say the lion or bear.

A centaur channels the tension between the raw power and strength of a horse and the masculine strength of the human archer . The centaur symbolizes the struggle between universal forces such as light and dark, good and evil, strength and weakness .

Whilst a traditional centaur is half-man, some tattoos feature women as a centaur, with long hair mirroring the mane of the lower half of the equine body. The centaur makes a wonderful tattoo design choice for both male and female Sagittarians, a reminder that they are the wild signs of the zodiac.

Related Post: Astrology Tattoo Ideas

There are so many options for tattoos that symbolize strength, half the fun will be doing the research and choosing the right design. Hopefully, some of the animal motifs above, both real and mythical, will provide some inspiration.

Christopher Owers

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A Cop With A Tattoo He Swears Isn’t A “Nazi Tattoo” Says A Lot About Police Free Speech

What beliefs disqualify someone from working as a cop? A Philadelphia officer with a tattoo strikingly similar to a Nazi symbol shows how free speech is being put to the test in police departments.

BuzzFeed News Reporter

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Philadelphia Police Officer Ian Lichterman has a tattoo on his left forearm of an eagle that looks a lot like the emblem adopted by the Nazi party during Adolf Hitler’s rise to power — the only difference being that there’s no swastika inside the wreath hanging from the bird’s talons. Just above the wings sits the word “Fatherland.”

The tattoo was little known to the public until September 2016, a few weeks after Lichterman wore a shortsleeve uniform shirt while working crowd-control duty during protests outside the Democratic National Convention. Philadelphia resident Evan Matthews snapped a photo and posted it on Facebook, and it went viral, leading the police department to open an investigation into whether Lichterman, who’d joined the force in 2000, should face any discipline.

“I am deeply offended by the tattoo and I think it is completely inappropriate for any law enforcement officer to have such a tattoo given its impact on those they are sworn to protect and serve,” Mayor Jim Kenney declared in a January press release, noting in a separate statement that police departments “need to be building trust, not offering messages or displaying images that destroy trust.”

Before the investigation was complete, Donald Trump was elected president. In the year since, a wave of hate speech and racist violence has terrorized those who are not white, and emboldened white supremacists have emerged from the shadows, protesting the removal of Confederate monuments while chanting slogans — “Blood and Soil!”... “You will not replace us!”... “Jews will not replace us!” — associated with Nazism.

It has become clear, if it wasn’t before, that white supremacist ideology has permeated the halls of American authority — from the White House, where anti-immigrant nativists Steve Bannon , Stephen Miller, and Sebastian Gorka were hired as advisers to Trump; to the prison system, where three Florida correctional officers, found to be Ku Klux Klan members, were convicted of plotting to kill a black inmate; to the church, where a Catholic priest and part-time history teacher in Virginia was forced to resign after a parishioner discovered that he‘d orchestrated at least six cross burnings during his time in the KKK; to the military, where a former Marine Corps recruiter and staff sergeant, who retired in January, became leader of the white supremacist group Vanguard America; to the fire station, where a firefighter in Ohio wrote in a Facebook comment that he’d rather save a dog than a black person because “one dog is more important than a million niggers.”

{ "id": 11850934 } “My tattoos are of my German-American heritage. You and your colleagues in the news media have done nothing but attempted to ruin my career."

Police departments, the most visible presence and most direct enforcers of government power over its citizens, have not been immune. And to many Philadelphia residents, including at least a few of the department’s own officers, the investigation into Lichterman highlighted the question facing law enforcement agencies at a time when hateful dogma is challenging the bounds of free speech: What beliefs disqualify a person from working as a cop?

Lichterman says the attention on him has been unfair. “I have no swastika or Third Reich related tattoos. PERIOD,” he wrote in an email declining an interview request for this story.

“My tattoos are of my German-American heritage,” Lichterman said in the email. “You and your colleagues in the news media have done nothing but attempted to ruin my career, attacked my character, attacked my family, questioned my service to the citizens of Philadelphia, and that of my service to the United States of America as a United States Marine.”

He referred questions to his lawyer, Timothy Strange, but Strange did not respond to repeated interview requests. Lichterman did not respond to a follow-up email with specific questions about the tattoo, about whether he subscribed to any aspects of white supremacist ideology, and about whether he was a member of any white supremacist organizations.

He did not have to answer for himself because his department already had: Earlier this year, internal affairs investigators cleared Lichterman. He remains on the job.

To most of the Philadelphia residents I spoke to, the police department’s actions — or inaction — reaffirmed the mistrust that has been building for generations. It’s the same mistrust that simmers in black and brown communities across the country and that fueled recent protests in St. Louis after a white former cop, Jason Stockley, who fatally shot a black man, Anthony Lamar Smith, in 2011 was acquitted of murder. Stockley, who resigned from the force in 2013, said he fired in self-defense; prosecutors accused him of planting a gun on Smith.

{ "id": 11850938 } “This officer had his body art prior to the enactment of this directive so it was difficult to take action.”

In Philadelphia, the department’s official position is that the Lichterman controversy was a matter of tattoo exhibition and nothing more. “It was determined that he didn’t commit any violations,” said Captain Sekou Kinebrew, a department spokesman. “Officers do have First Amendment protections like anyone else. In terms of your brains or your thoughts or your ideology, is that something we want to police? As long as you’re not violating public trust, it’s very difficult to police.”

In the weeks following the decision, police officials instituted a new policy banning tattoos that are “offensive, extremist, indecent, racist or sexist while on duty.”

“This officer had his body art prior to the enactment of this directive so it was difficult to take action,” Kinebrew said, acknowledging that Lichterman’s eagle may have qualified as an infraction if the order had previously been in place. On September 15, three weeks after I began inquiring about the tattoo and at least seven months after the investigation ended, the department for the first time ordered Lichterman to cover it up while on duty, Kinebrew said.

But this was about more than a tattoo. A year after the investigation was sparked, the department hasn’t addressed other evidence of the officer’s links to white supremacists. And by ignoring that, several of his colleagues in uniform said, their department leaders reaffirmed the suspicion, long held by both black residents and some black cops, that they had no interest in confronting the strain of white supremacy coursing through America.

“The racism in this department is real,” said a commanding officer with more than a decade in Philadelphia’s police force, who requested that his rank not be disclosed, when asked about how the department handled the complaints. “I’m seeing this department go backwards.”

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Officer Lichterman

Sometimes it’s easy for a police department to call out an officer’s racist behavior. Sometimes it’s too obvious to ignore.

Over the last three years, at least 24 officers — in California, Florida, Missouri, Georgia, and Alabama – have been fired or forced to resign after they were caught exchanging racist texts, emails, or Facebook messages. Another officer, in South Carolina, was fired after he scrawled a racist slur on a black person’s house last year. In September, a police department in Gainesville, Florida, opened an investigation into an officer who’d made anti-Semitic comments on Facebook. In August, a police chief in Colbert, Oklahoma, resigned after local reporters discovered that he was listed as an administrator on websites selling neo-Nazi merchandise. Since 2009, at least four officers, in Louisiana and Florida, were kicked out of their departments when local officials discovered evidence that they were members of the Ku Klux Klan. One of those officers, from Lake Arthur, Louisiana, initially claimed he had been working undercover at a Klan gathering in 2014, then changed his answer to “standing at a rally against illegal immigration,” then eventually admitted that he had indeed been a member of the group’s Loyal White Knights chapter.

Federal authorities have been concerned about white supremacists infiltrating police departments since at least 2006, when an internal FBI memo stated that investigations into right-wing extremist groups “often” found members who had “active links to law enforcement officers.” The memo, which leaked in late 2016, discussed the possibility of a strategic effort by racist hate groups to embed “ghost skins,” a term used to describe “those who avoid overt displays of their beliefs to blend into society and covertly advance white supremacist causes.” But just as troubling, and perhaps just as hard to catch, is the threat of prospective officers “sympathetic to white supremacist causes” pursuing law enforcement careers for more a straightforward reason: The job simply appeals to them.

“Police departments don’t want to acknowledge that they have members in these groups, but the fact is that sometimes their policies and practices sort of provide a place for those individuals who favor those white supremacist beliefs,” said Ron Hampton, a retired officer from Washington, DC, who now works on the National Police Accountability Project. “It’s not at all unusual.”

As times have changed and social taboos have shifted, so have the tokens of American racism. Klan robes and swastikas have been replaced by more obscure references, such as “14/88,” various Nordic and Celtic symbols, Pepe the Frog, and less obvious Nazi party insignias. The rhetoric has adjusted accordingly, adopting language that focuses on white victimhood and ancestral pride. Racists have almost always denied that they are racist, and today many of them hide behind labels that deem them “alt-right” or “nationalist.”

{ "id": 11850942 } It’s likely impossible to ever know how many cops are members of white supremacist organizations or subscribe to that ideology.

In recent months, as the Trump presidency brought a fresh spotlight to the current generation of white supremacists, many of these new dog-whistles have entered public consciousness. According to seven active and retired officers, though, police departments have been slow — if not unwilling — to purge white supremacists from their ranks, hesitant to challenge the plausible deniability maintained by those who don’t don a Klan robe or get caught using the n-word.

“They can’t fire you for what’s in your head if you don’t ever tell them what’s in your head,” said Hampton. “Even if other officers have a problem with it, it ends up being one officer's word against another. Members of law enforcement have been in these groups for a long time, but it’s sort of gone underground.”

Because of this, Hampton and several active officers said, it’s likely impossible to ever know how many cops are members of white supremacist organizations or subscribe to that ideology.

One Baltimore police officer recalled a recent colleague with a small neck tattoo of two lightning bolts, a not-so-veiled reference to the Nazi SS unit. “Everyone knew what he was about,” the officer said. When his bosses learned that he was a member of a motorcycle group accused of promoting white supremacist beliefs, they moved him to units where his interaction with the public would be limited — tracking down illegal guns and working wiretaps, the officer said, noting that the colleague stayed with the department until retirement.

Evidence can sometimes be even more ambiguous, not so much proof of ideology but mere reason for suspicion. Lorne Ahrens, who was among the five Dallas officers killed by an anti-police extremist in 2016, had a small tattoo on his finger of an Iron Cross , an arm tattoo of a Crusader’s Shield , and a Facebook page cover photo of Thor’s Hammer — all iconography associated, though not exclusively, with white supremacist groups. (Lawyers representing Ahrens’ family didn’t respond to an email inquiring about the symbols.)

Departments have significant incentive to identify racist cops. In 2015, prosecutors in San Francisco dropped at least 13 cases — and opened a review into around 3,000 more — tied to 14 officers who had exchanged racist texts. In Washington, DC, this summer, a judge dismissed at least one case involving an officer who was photographed wearing a shirt bearing a pre-Christian cross adopted by some racist organizations.

While many police departments are quick to assign criminal liability to young black men who wear certain colors, hang out with certain people, or have any other suspected ties to street gangs, they have given far more leeway to cops with proven ties to racist groups. In 2013, two Anniston, Alabama, officers attended the national conference of the League of the South, which the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) describes as “a neo-Confederate group that advocates for a second Southern secession and a society dominated by ‘European Americans.’” One of the officers gave a speech declaring that “kith and kin comes before illegal national mandates.”

When the SPLC, which acquired video footage of the event, informed Anniston city officials, they claimed that their hands were tied by constitutional freedoms. “We could not terminate an employee solely on his or her membership in a legal, lawfully formed, civic club or organization,” then-city manager Brian Johnson said. “I do not believe that someone could be terminated solely based on their private sector membership in a properly formed legal organization — as hateful as the KKK might be.”

The Reichsadler ("Imperial Eagle") has been a symbol of Germany in various forms for centuries. The Nazi Party redrew the symbol as its Parteiadler ("Party Eagle"), similar to Lichterman's tattoo with the eagle's head facing right. In 1935, Hitler slightly altered the eagle to represent the Nazi Germany, with its head facing left.

“I recommend you study the history of Germany prior to the second world war,” Lichterman wrote in his email. “These tattoos that I have on my arm date back to the times of Germania, the Roman Empire, and that of Christianity.”

Indeed, the black eagle has been a Germanic symbol for centuries, appearing on regional coats of arms as far back as 500 CE and standing as a national emblem since the mid-1800s. From the symbol’s inception and through centuries of variation, the eagle was taller than it was wide, with a rounded head and messy, splayed feathers, as if the bird were drying itself off after a bath. The version on Lichterman’s arm — wider than it is tall, with a flat head and sleek wings — didn’t appear in popular German culture until the Nazi party adopted it as its emblem in the early 1930s.

Lichterman is correct in saying that his tattoo isn’t precisely the same as the symbol used by the Third Reich. In 1935, Hitler slightly altered the Nazi party eagle to create a new national emblem for Nazi Germany: While the Nazi party eagle has its head turned to the right, the eagle that represented the Third Reich has its head turned to the left. Every official national symbol since the end of World War II has featured the old, splayed-feather model, cementing the sleek eagle’s historical link to Germany’s Nazi years.

As the controversy unfolded, a Philadelphia anti-fascist group published information from Lichterman’s social media accounts that they believed proved further Nazi ties, including photos of him dressed as a Nazi soldier during a World War II reenactment and of the Iron Cross tattoo on his elbow. It wasn’t the first time the local antifa network had heard of Lichterman, said “Warren Red,” a researcher for One People’s Project, an organization loosely affiliated with antifa, who declined to give his real name. In 2010, when One People’s Project hacked into a series of white supremacist websites, Lichterman’s name, home address, and email were listed in the database of UK-based skinhead group Blood & Honour . The list, which I’ve reviewed, has addresses from all over the world, including at least 60 from the US, of people who either signed up or were signed up for membership. One of those listed, Bart Alsbrook, matches the name of the Colbert, Oklahoma, police chief who resigned in August. In a statement to the Tulsa World, Alsbrook denied supporting racist ideology and claimed that white supremacists had “hijacked” his name in an effort to make him look bad.

Around the time of the hack, Warren Red, who is based in Philadelphia, looked up the names on the list with Pennsylvania addresses and discovered that one of them, Ian Lichterman, was that of a police officer — the name had appeared in a short news blurb about an award he’d won for his patrol work. The local antifa group published this information in a blog post on its website, but “nothing became of it,” Red said — until the tattoo controversy drew local news outlets to antifa’s updated post on the officer.

{ "id": 11850944 } “When you’re off-duty and not acting on behalf of the department and your conduct isn’t illegal, it does pose a bit of a challenge in whether we can intervene."

Captain Kinebrew, the Philadelphia police spokesman, said that he hadn’t heard about Lichterman’s possible association with Blood & Honour until I asked him about it in late August. But even if Lichterman was a member, he added, it would have had little to no bearing on the internal investigation, which focused on the tattoo.

“When you’re off-duty and not acting on behalf of the department and your conduct isn’t illegal, it does pose a bit of a challenge in whether we can intervene and make restrictions on that type of stuff,” he said. “If you’re asking if we’re proactively probing personal lives without cause — no, we’re not going to go out of our way to look into how a cop lives.”

Doing so, Kinebrew suggested, “really borders on infringement of people’s constitutional rights. Would we disqualify any religion?”

Department officials note that Lichterman has not been found to have committed any misconduct over the course of his career. Federal court records show that he has not been a defendant in any civil rights lawsuits. Kinebrew said that, to his knowledge, no evidence exists that he’d ever expressed any racial bias on the job, and because of that “it’s not as easy on our end to say just fire him. We have collective bargaining contracts we have to abide by.”

And the union has defended Lichterman from the start. Immediately after the tattoo photo emerged, John McNesby, president of Philadelphia’s Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 5, told the Philadelphia Inquirer in a text message, “I've seen it. It's an Eagle. Not a big deal…. I see people with panthers on their arm. Doesn't mean they are black panthers. People with crosses on arms doesn't mean they dislike any other religion.” At a union event almost exactly a year later, McNesby, who didn't respond to interview requests, declared that he believed it was Black Lives Matter protesters who were the “racist hate groups determined to instigate violence,” adding that they were “a pack of rabid animals.”

Even the mayor, initially the loudest critic of the tattoo, supports the department’s decision, stating in an email that “the policy that was developed in the wake of this evidence is likely the strongest action the city can take without violating the First Amendment.”

But while Philadelphia officials, like their counterparts in Anniston and elsewhere, have repeatedly cited free speech protections as the reason Lichterman faced no discipline, legal experts said that this line of argument ignored the wide latitude government has to protect its institutions.

“If you are a public employee and your speech when you are not doing your job is going to affect how you do your job and how your employer functions, your employer may be able to fire you or limit that speech,” said Mary Catherine Roper, deputy legal director for the ACLU of Pennsylvania. “It’s really going to be a question of whether the public is going to associate that tattoo with his job as a public servant — whether it’s going to interfere with his ability to constructively interact with people in minority communities.”

A police chief in Roswell, Georgia, used this reasoning last year to fire a sergeant who was flying a Confederate flag outside of her house. The sergeant then sued the department for violating her freedom of speech, a case that is still pending.

Unlike how the Baltimore Police Department handled the officer with the lightning bolt tattoos, Philadelphia police officials didn’t change Lichterman’s role. He continues to patrol the Second District, a sprawling collection of diverse working-class neighborhoods in the northeastern corner of the city. He’s a member of the district’s “Five Squad,” meaning his assignments vary based on the “specific problems” in the district on any given day. It’s a position he earned through his seniority, Kinebrew said, “not a squad they give to people just out of the academy.”

A majority of people in the southern half of the Second District are black. If any were going to give Lichterman the benefit of the doubt, Jahi Harrell, a 40-year-old construction worker, would be a likely candidate.

Harrell’s foreman has a swastika tattooed on the back of his bald head, but Harrell didn’t think the man to be racist. He’d gotten the tattoo when he was young, Harrell said, and while he hadn’t gotten it removed, he’d expressed regret for the beliefs he’d had as a younger man.

But, unlike Lichterman, Harrell’s foreman wasn’t wielding the power of the state — and as far as Harrell knew, Lichterman hadn't expressed any regret.

{ "id": 11850950 } “You see that tattoo on a cop, you gon’ think he’s racist. Even if he’s really not."

“You see that tattoo on a cop, you gon’ think he’s racist,” Harrell said, as he returned from work one afternoon. “Even if he’s really not. You see that, you gon’ think he’s coming after me because I’m black or Latino or whatever. How can you trust a police department when they allow that?”

More than a dozen black residents in Lichterman’s district expressed similar sentiments. Most had heard about the tattoo, and most were shocked that the officer continued to patrol their neighborhood — though some admitted they wouldn't have known the meaning of the eagle symbol had they not seen the stories about Lichterman in the news or on social media.

Yves Delva, a 30-year-old mental health technician, said that he believed the eagle tattoo contradicted the officer’s oath to protect and serve the community. “Pops” Amin, a 36-year-old welder who declined to give his real first name, said that by not disciplining the officer, the department had effectively supported his belief system. Sharnell Workman, a 40-year-old cosmetologist, said that this issue gave people in her neighborhood only more reason to fear police.

“I’m worried for those that would come across him,” she said. “It would be scary for me.”

Workman and others considered the department’s handling of the internal investigation disrespectful to the district’s residents. It wasn’t just that they kept him on the force — some residents were okay with that upon hearing that he has no record of brutality. It was that, the way they saw it, the department failed to acknowledge the community’s concerns.

“People don’t think that their voices are heard,” Workman said. “The police and everybody else in power don’t care. This is just another example of that.”

Several residents noted that department officials failed to explain how exactly they reached the conclusion that a cop accused of being a Nazi sympathizer held no racial biases. Some pointed out that nobody — not the mayor, not the police chief, not the union boss, not even Lichterman’s own lawyer — has actually said the simple words people needed to hear: Officer Ian Lichterman is not a racist, not a Nazi, not a member of any white supremacist group.

When I asked Captain Kinebrew, who is black, if he believed that Lichterman held white supremacist beliefs, he replied that he’d never met the guy. “I might not be the best person to answer that,” he said. “I think that would be a question better answered by the officer. It might be touchy for me to go down that road. I want to be careful not to speak for him. It wouldn’t be fair for me to answer on a personal level. I don’t want to make that presumption about anybody. It could be a heritage thing. I still want to hear the other side of it.”

A file photo of police officers after an April 30, 2015, protest in Philadelphia.

Four Philadelphia officers agreed to speak with me on the record on the condition of anonymity. I met with one of them at a park on the west side of town on a warm September afternoon. A longtime veteran of the force, the lieutenant said that he was willing to discuss the Lichterman investigation because, like other officers, he was unhappy with how it played out.

The lieutenant, who is black, grew up in a family that “hated” cops, he said. A loved one had been killed in mysterious circumstances by an officer who faced no repercussion, and it was this injustice that drove the lieutenant to pursue a career in law enforcement. Over his years in the department, he’d seen much progress in how officers interacted with black residents, he said, especially in recent years.

{ "id": 11850953 } “It’s like every step we take forward, something like this happens and we take more steps back."

“But it’s like every step we take forward, something like this happens and we take more steps back,” he said. “When you see things like that it makes my job 10 times harder. I can understand why a civilian, especially a minority, might say, ‘Why should I trust these guys when they're okay with this?’”

He blamed a “flawed” screening process for allowing Lichterman on the force in the first place but believed it would be unfair “to take away this guy’s livelihood at this point” because of the department’s own mistakes. A sanction for “conduct unbecoming of an officer” would have been just, he said — or at least public recognition that the department took the issue seriously.

“We owe that to the people,” he said. “But nobody said shit.”

Like most everybody else in the city, the lieutenant learned about the tattoo in the newspapers and learned about the result of the investigation the same way. He and his colleagues talked about it, he said, and “a lot” of them are just as upset as he is.

“It undermines the rest of us and takes attention away from the good things we do,” he said.

Yet nothing about this situation surprised him. If the decision makers didn’t seem to recognize the gravity of the allegations against Lichterman, he said it was because of a culture deeply embedded in a department that has historically been “white male top-heavy in every rank” — a culture that persists even under the current black police chief and an increasingly diverse command staff. The lieutenant wagered that if he was found to associate with the New Black Panthers, which has a heavy presence in Philadelphia, there’s “no way in hell I wouldn’t be disciplined.”

Two other black officers agreed. One of them, the commanding officer who asked that his rank not be disclosed, said that the tolerance for racism he’d seen among many of his colleagues led him to “question every day” whether he wanted to stay on the job. “You gotta push through it because the department will certainly retaliate against you if you speak up about it,” he said.

{ "id": 11850959 } “How do you look at a person and tell what their biases are?”

This problem is not unique to Philadelphia. Within the last four years, at least 21 black cops across six states have filed racial discrimination lawsuits against their departments, claiming that they were subject to racist slurs from colleagues, were passed over for promotions, and had their complaints dismissed by bosses. Last year, an officer in Nashville was suspended after he posted a photo of Black Panther leaders Bobby Seale and Huey Newton as his Facebook profile picture.

The lieutenant had seen some of that over his years in the department. He didn’t know how to fix it. Before you can remove racists from the police force, you have to identify them, and he wasn’t sure that was even possible most of the time.

“How do you look at a person and tell what their biases are?” he pondered.

He couldn’t help but think about the times he’d stood alongside his fellow cops during Black Lives Matter protests, face-to-face with riled-up activists. More than once, he remembered, a black protester would look at the black lieutenant and the white officer next to him “and then tell me, ‘He thinks you’re a nigger too!’”

“It makes you fuckin’ wonder,” the lieutenant said. “It makes you fuckin’ wonder how many of them really do feel that way.” ●

Albert Samaha is a senior culture reporter at BuzzFeed News and author of two books, "Concepcion: Conquest, Colonialism, and an Immigrant Family's Fate" and "Never Ran, Never Will: Boyhood and Football in a Changing American Inner City." He is based in New York.

Contact Albert Samaha at [email protected] .

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The Ultimate Guide to Post Malone's Tattoos

Published on 3/11/2023 at 7:30 PM

Post Malone has been steadily releasing music ever since he first burst into the spotlight following the breakout success of his 2015 single "White Iverson." Since then, the 27-year-old singer, songwriter, and rapper has released four critically-acclaimed studio albums, earned four Billboard Hot 100 number-one singles, and produced multiple smash hits, including "Sunflower," "Circles," and "I Like You." However, the Texas-bred genre-defying artist isn't just known for his awe-inspiring music alone. Malone has racked up an impressive tattoo collection throughout his career, which includes upwards of 70 designs. Notably, the musician has a handful of eye-catching face tattoos , which stand out the most.

Malone didn't set out on his ink journey with the most positive outlook, but his tattoos helped him gain confidence in his appearance. "It does maybe come from a place of insecurity, to where I don't like how I look, so I'm going to put something cool on there so I can look at myself and say, 'You look cool, kid,' and have a modicum of self-confidence, when it comes to my appearance," he told GQ in a candid interview in 2020. However, the "Cooped Up" singer has become more comfortable in his skin over the years and proudly owns all the tattoos he got etched on his body. "I don't think I have any regrets tattoo-wise . It's all a time and a moment," he shared in that same interview .

Ahead, take a look at all of Malone's tattoos — From ink dedicated to his love for medieval artifacts and gaming to touching tributes for his loved ones and musical idols. Here's your ultimate guide to the rapper's body art and the meaning behind each design.

Post Malone’s Face and Head Tattoos

Post malone's "ddp" tattoo.

In October 2022, Malone got "DDP" inked on his forehead in the bold, Old English-style font. The ink is a sweet tribute to the rapper's baby daughter , whom he welcomed in the summer of 2022. Many fans believe that "DDP" are the initials of the "Circles" singer's firstborn. He also has the letters "DDP" tattooed across his right cheek in a small font below the iconic "Always" ink.

Post Malone's "Always Tired" Tattoo

Perhaps one of his most iconic tattoos, Malone got "Always" inked under his right eye and "Tired" under his left eye in 2018. The cursive script tattoo depicts the singer's perpetual state of exhaustion, as he described in a sit-down with GQ. "Under my eyes, it says, "Always Tired," 'cause I'm always tired. Always touring, always working, not taking care of myself the way that I need to. I figured it was just very fitting for how I felt, so." He added that the ink was particularly painful due to its location. "This was the only face tattoo that hurt."

Post Malone's "Stay Away" Tattoo

Another one of Malone's constant moods made it onto his face. The phrase "Stay Away" is written in cursive above his right eyebrow. It's an ode to the eponymous Nirvana song, "Stay Away," one of Malone's all-time favorite songs. As for the location, he admitted it was inspired by Lil Peep's "Cry Baby" tattoo.

Post Malone's Barbed Wire Tattoo

A barbed wire tattoo runs along Malone's hairline. When asked the meaning behind the design, he said , "I just think barber wire's cool, and it was a cool idea to do it as a trim."

Post Malone's Smile Emoji Tattoo

A small smile emoji sits near Malone's right eye with X's for eyes. The rapper shared the funny story behind this "accidental Marshmello tattoo," explaining that he thought using Xs for the eyes was a cool idea. "And then I looked in the mirror, and it's f*cking Marshmello's helmet on my face."

Post Malone's Playboy Bunny Tattoo

A tiny Playboy bunny symbol is inked directly below the emoji design near Malone's right eye. He also has the icon tattooed on his left arm, which is comparably larger and the first tattoo he ever got.

Post Malone's Sword Tattoo

Malone got a claymore sword on his right cheek, which, according to a Tim Westwood interview , stems from the singer's affinity for all things medieval.

Post Malone's Tree Branches Tattoo

An intricate tree branch design stretches across Malone's left temple. It's unclear exactly what the design means.

Post Malone's Heart Tattoos

A tiny heart is outlined directly below the Playboy bunny symbol on Malone's check, while a medium-sized solid heart in red ink is placed on his left temple.

Post Malone's Blackjack Tattoo

Malone has a pair of cards — Ace of Spades and a Queen of Hearts — tattooed on the left side of his forehead. He decided to get it for the simple reason that he loves playing Blackjack.

Post Malone's "77" Tattoo

Malone has a "7" inked on either side of his nose . He got the design in September 2018.

Post Malone's Gauntlet and Flail Tattoo

At the end of 2019, Malone debuted another eye-catching face tattoo: a gauntlet holding a flail . The design is placed on the right side of his face.

Post Malone's Buzzsaw Tattoo

In February 2020, Malone got a bloody buzzsaw tattooed on the center of his left cheek.

Post Malone's Skull With Horns Tattoo

In June 2020 , Malone got a skull with horns inked on the left side of his face, next to his ear. Another detailed skull design can be seen on the right side of his head.

Post Malone's Serpentine-Tongued Medusa Tattoo

Malone put a spin on the famous Greek mythological figure Medusa with a snake slithering out her mouth instead of a tongue. The artwork is located on his head, above his left ear.

Post Malone's Hammer Tattoo

Adjacent to the claymore sword, Malone got a bloody hammer on his face using red and black ink.

Post Malone’s Neck Tattoos

Post malone's eagle tattoos.

On the right side of his neck, Malone has a beautiful white eagle, while he has another eagle in black on the left side. An eagle tattoo traditionally symbolizes courage, freedom, and power.

Post Malone's Cow Skull Tattoo

Covering a majority of the singer's neck is a cow skull, which Malone decided to get at random. "There's really nothing to it," he said when discussing the design's meaning. "I just think it would be cool, and then I do it."

Post Malone's "Stoney" Tattoo

Malone got the word "stony" emblazoned on the top of his neck under his chin. The all-caps script is also the name of the singer's debut studio album, which came out in 2016.

Post Malone's Texas and New York City Tattoos

Malone honored his roots by getting tattoos of the outlines of two special places to him. Behind his right ear is the physical map of New York as an ode to the rapper's birthplace, Syracuse. He also has an outline of Texas in red ink behind his left ear as an homage to the city he grew up in.

Post Malone’s Torso Tattoos

Post malone's easter jesus tattoo.

Malone has what he refers to as a "big zombie Easter Jesus" on the right side of his chest. "Jesus is very handsome, so I figured how could we make him super metal? And so we made him Easter Jesus," he said in an interview detailing the ink.

Post Malone's Dallas Cowboys Helmet Tattoo

Malone's love for the Dallas Cowboys is marked with a tattoo dedicated to the football team. He got a helmet with the team's logo on his left clavicle.

Post Malone's Dice Tattoo

Malone has another unique piece of ink on the top right side of his chest. The design illustrates what appears to be a melding of two dice, with each front side of the cubes depicting animated eyes with tears dripping out. The artist hasn't shared the significance behind the ink.

A sword is drawn along Malone's clavicle, giving the impression that the singer has been impaled. The design even features red ink indicating blood stains.

Post Malone's Four-Horned Figure Tattoo

A four-horned mythological figure cloaked in solid black ink is located on the left side of his chest.

Post Malone's Skull and Crossbones Script Tattoo

On his left ribcage, Malone has a skull and crossbones inked alongside a Cold War saying that reads, "Kill a commie for mommy."

Post Malone's "Molon Labe" Tattoo

A Greek phrase that reads "Molon Labe" is inked in an arched design over Malone's torso. The classic phrase of defiance roughly translates to "Come and take them."

Post Malone's Master Shake Tattoo

Malone has the Master Shake character from the comedy cartoon series "Aqua Teen Hunger Force" tattooed on his right ribcage. The singer hilariously admitted that this piece of ink is among the most painful he's ever gotten despite it being an adorable cartoon character.

Post Malone’s Left Arm Tattoos

Post malone's jfk portrait tattoo.

Malone has a portrait of John F. Kennedy on his left hand, near his thumb. He got it in 2016.

Post Malone's Johnny Cash Portrait Tattoo

He has Johnny Cash's portrait on his left shoulder as a tribute to the late singer-songwriter.

Post Malone's "So Far, So Good, So What" Tattoo

A script tattoo that reads "So Far, So Good, So What" sits vertically on Malone's left forearm.

Post Malone's Lil Peep Portrait Tattoo

The rapper paid tribute to fellow musician Lil Peep, who passed away in 2017, by getting his portrait tattooed on his left bicep. "In the short time that i knew you, you were a great friend to me and a great person. your music changed the world, and it'll never be the same. i love you bud. Forever," he wrote in a tweet at the time.

Malone has barbed wires that run along his knuckles on both hands.

Post Malone's Snake and Gun Tattoo

Malone got a snake wrapped around a gun inked on his left shoulder. The ink represents the singer's stance on the second amendment.

Post Malone's Dagger Tattoo

On the inside of his left shoulder, Malone has a medium-sized dagger that runs along the length of his arm.

Post Malone's Texas Flag and Skull Tattoo

Paying homage to his Texas roots, he got the state flag inside his left forearm. A skull incorporates the colorful flag.

The Playboy bunny symbol situated on his left forearm was the first tattoo Malone ever got. "I got that when recording "Stoney," he said while explaining the ink's significance.

Post Malone's Gadsden Snake Tattoo

The Gadsden flag symbol — a coiled rattlesnake — is inked on Malone's left forearm.

Post Malone's Saint Jude Tattoo

Malone's first-ever hand tattoo is on his left side and features Saint Jude with a metal twist. "He's lifting up his robe, and there's a skeleton coming out. I just thought it looked b*tching," he shared, adding that the design was also the album artwork for his 2016 single, "Too Young."

Post Malone's Cartier Love Bangle Tattoo

A tiny Cartier love bangle logo is inked on the tip of Malone's left index finger, which he admitted was the most painful design he'd ever gotten.

Post Malone's Anheuser-Busch Tattoo

The logo of Anheuser-Busch, a leading American brewing company, also found a place in Malone's extensive tattoo collection. It's inked on the skin between his left thumb and index finger.

Post Malone's Bob Dylan Portrait Tattoo

An intricate portrait of Bob Dylan playing harmonica while simultaneously smoking a cigarette is located on Malone's left bicep.

Post Malone's "LOTR"-inspired Tattoo

Sauron from "Lord of the Rings" clearly left such a mark on the singer that he got a tattoo of the character. "He's the coolest character. He's huge, and he has a cool-ass mace. What else do you want from a villain, I guess?" he said about his favorite character from the classic R.R. Tolkien franchise.

Post Malone's Motorhead Tattoo

Malone has the English rock band Motorhead's logo inked on his left forearm near his elbow.

Post Malone's "Whatever" Tattoo

The word "Whatever" is written across Malone's left palm. It is an homage to Nirvana's 1991 album of the same name, which Malone loves.

Post Malone's Miraak Tattoo

Inspired by the video game "The Elder Scrolls V: Dragonborn," Malone got the armor mark featured in the series, aka Miraak, inked on the top of his left shoulder.

Post Malone's "Posty Co." Tattoo

The name of Malone's band, Posty Co., is etched on the inside of his left wrist.

Post Malone's Curt Cobain Portrait Tattoo

On his left forearm, there's a portrait of Kurt Cobain smoking and strumming a guitar. It is a nod to the former Nirvana founder, as he's among the musical inspirations of the "Sunflower" singer.

Post Malone’s Right Arm Tattoos

Post malone's "rest easy" tattoo.

Malone has the phrase "Rest Easy" spread across his knuckles, with his right hand spelling "Rest" and his left hand, "Easy."

Post Malone's Grizzly Bear Tattoo

There's an intimidating grizzly bear with its mouth aggressively open placed prominently on the back of Malone's right hand.

Post Malone's Various Finger Portrait Tattoos

Malone paid a touching tribute to a handful of his favorite artists by getting their portraits permanently etched on his knuckles. So far, he has gotten Kurt Cobain, Elvis Presley, George Harrison, John Lennon, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Bankroll Fresh, and Dimebag Darrell. "Without these guys, I wouldn't be making music right now," he told GQ in 2016.

Post Malone's Praying Hands and a Handgun Tattoo

Malone has a tattoo of a set of praying hands holding a gun on his right bicep.

Post Malone's Fighting Knight Tattoo

Malone has a tattoo of a knight on a horse as he stabs a spear in another person on his right forearm.

Post Malone's Black Horse Tattoo

He got a drawing of himself riding a black horse, which is remarkably reminiscent of the visuals in his 2019 music video for "Circles." "This is me on a horse. I think we got a picture from a game. My friend, Kyle, he just put my face on it, and my friend, Ricky, hooked me up and did it," he said , explaining the inception of the ink.

Post Malone's Minuteman Tattoo

On his right forearm, near his elbow, Malone has a tattoo of a minuteman as a tribute to the American revolutionary soldiers.

Post Malone's "Nevermind" Tattoo

On his right palm, Malone got the word " Nevermind " in all caps. The rapper debuted the ink in 2016, and it appears to be the completion of his "Whatever" design that together pays a lyrical homage to Nirvana's song "Smells Like Teen Spirit."

Post Malone's Skull and Crossbones Tattoo

A mini, wobbly-eyed skull with crossbones is inked on his right palm, right next to the word "Nevermind."

Post Malone's "Patient" Tattoo

In honor of his single "Patient," off his 2016 debut studio album, Malone got the track title inked on his right bicep in a jagged font. He revealed in an interview that he got the tattoo while filming the music video. However, the visuals never saw the light of day, but the singer decided to get the ink to capture those memories anyway.

Post Malone's Samurai Skull Tattoo

Malone enlisted Japanese tattoo artist Ganji Bang to get a "demon samurai skull" next to his right inner elbow. He also got another unique design from the tattooist of an animated "guy getting his face ripped off." The latter sits on his right bicep in red, black, and white ink.

Post Malone's Gallenson's Gun Tattoo

Malone got the icon of Gallenson's, a Salt Lake City-based gun shop, tattooed on his right bicep in solid black ink.

Post Malone’s Left Leg Tattoos

Post malone's gun tattoo.

Malone has a pistol inked above his left knee.

Post Malone's "Inuyasha"-inspired Tattoo

The anime character Kagome Higurashi from the Japanese series "Inuyasha" is tattooed on Malone's left calf in gorgeous green, red, and black ink.

Post Malone's Vault Boy Tattoo

The corporate mascot of the Fallout media franchise, Vault Boy, is tattooed on Malone's lower left leg, above the ankle. The colorful design features blue, red, black, and yellow ink.

Post Malone's "Beauty and the Beast" Tattoo

The rapper has a tattoo for the classic Disney movie, "Beauty and the Beast," on his right leg. The design has the two characters tattooed inside a colorful heart. He got it in 2018.

Post Malone's Skyrim Tattoo

The rapper got the logo of the fifth edition of the video game "The Elder Scrolls: Skyrim" emblazoned on top of his left foot.

Post Malone's Ghost Tattoo

A playful ghost emoji with a sad expression is placed on Malone's left leg.

Post Malone's Metallica Tattoos

Malone translated his love for the heavy metal rock band Metallica into tattoos. He has their track title "The Things That Should Not Be" inked on his left foot, while another song titled "Disposable Heroes" is scribbled across his leg.

Post Malone’s Right Leg Tattoos

Post malone's "smoke sum" tattoo.

The rapper got a sinister-looking skull design emerging out of the smoke of a cigarette inked on his outer right thigh. The words "Smoke Sum" are written below the cigarette.

Post Malone's Skull Thigh Tattoo

Malone has another skull design on his left thigh that says "To serve and protect" alongside it.

Post Malone's Skull With a Headdress Tattoo

Malone has a skull design with a traditional Cherokee headdress on his right leg, near his ankle.

Post Malone's Oblivion Tattoo

Malone is a self-proclaimed gamer and doesn't shy away from including his favorite games in his collection. The official logo of "The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion" is inked atop his right foot.

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Gail Reilly

Owner / Artist

this is where we write something poetic & magical about me. really I'm just a person who loves to tattoo and create art. I have an infinite love for all things cats, strive to keep things light hearted, and continue to explore this new adventure in business owner life. i'm constantly adding new plants and masks to the collection at the shop. let's see if you can spot a new one next time you're in... 

How long have you been an artist for?

I have been creating since I was a child. One of my earliest memories with artwork was drawing aaallll over my childhood home. My parents weren't too happy that I was drawing on the walls, but my Dad did get butcher paper and put it up so that they wouldn't have to deal with it again. BOY WERE THEY WRONG. I drew in books, I drew on the sidewalks (with chaulk of course), I drew on myself, my siblings.. Nothing was safe if there were a pen or pencil in around.

How long have you been tattooing?

This is always a tough question to answer, because I never felt like there was a finish line that I crossed, and offically that is "When" ya know? I first set needle to skin in 2012 if that helps in terms of time with a machine in my hand.

What do you like to tattoo?

Mandalas, filigree, & animals to name a few subjects... but overall, I enjoy the use of organic and geometric mashups. Currently my work is focusing on larger designs that contour the body part. Utilizing texture and color gradients have become more important to me over the years for maximum visual interest.

What other types of media do you pursue?

I tend to lean towards working with watercolor, but have been exploring epoxy art & other multi-media projects as of late. You can find a few special pieces created at the shop.

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In the shadow of Red October

The portrait with the holes

He is staring at me. I feel it. ­­­

His pale blue eyes are cold and penetrating.

But it is his expressionless face that is most unnerving - a face disfigured by bayonets. Daylight seeps through holes that have been gouged into his cheeks and forehead.

This portrait of the Russian Emperor Alexander II transfixes me. The Austrian artist Heinrich von Angeli painted it in 1876. Russian revolutionaries ran their bayonets through it in 1917 when they seized the Winter Palace in Petrograd - as St Petersburg was then known - a sign of their hatred for the old Russia they were sweeping away.

Ever since, the painting has been hidden in the vaults of the State Hermitage Museum housed in the Winter Palace. For the 100th anniversary of the revolution, the damaged portrait is being displayed in Russia for the first time. I am given a private viewing.

It is only a painting - just oil and canvas. But the pockmarked face of Emperor Alexander conveys the drama and the brutality of Russia’s revolution more powerfully than anything I have seen.

There were, in fact, two revolutions in 1917.

The February Revolution deposed the monarchy. The imperial Winter Palace became the seat of the Provisional Government.

The second revolution imposed Bolshevism on Russia, creating the world’s first communist state.

The Great October Socialist Revolution – as it became known – actually took place on 7 November. But in 1917 Russia was using a different calendar from the West, according to which the date was 25 October.

Soviet propaganda would portray what happened as a mass uprising of workers, peasants and soldiers who – led by the Bolsheviks – stormed the Winter Palace to seize power for the people.

That was the picture dutifully painted by Soviet cinema. A decade later, film-maker Sergei Eisenstein re-enacted the revolution for his epic entitled October.

Filmed on location at the Winter Palace, it depicted Red October as Russia’s Bastille moment, with thousands of people breaking down the gates of the palace and pouring inside. The cruiser Aurora was accorded a starring role - firing the shot that signalled the start of the uprising.

It was a magnificent spectacle. But it wasn’t true. The Winter Palace is widely believed to have suffered more damage from Eisenstein’s film crew than from the actual revolution.

In 1917 there was no dramatic storming of the Winter Palace. Most of the Red Guard revolutionaries who had got inside did so through an unlocked door.

As for claims of a mass uprising, this was fake news from the Bolsheviks. Red October was a coup. Vladimir Lenin’s party had seized power in Russia.

Its slogans, though, were attractive to people trapped in poverty: “Land to the peasants! Factories to the workers!”

American journalist John Reed witnessed the Bolshevik takeover of Russia. In his book Ten Days That Shook the World he described the chaos before the coup.

“The peasants… were burning manor houses and massacring landowners. Immense strikes and lock-outs convulsed Moscow, Odessa, and the coal mines of the Don. Transport was paralysed; the army was starving, and in the big cities there was no bread.”

But the revolution plunged Russia into the bloodiest period of its history. Civil war, world war, famine and Joseph Stalin’s Great Terror would claim tens of millions of lives.

“It is our historical fate,” Hermitage director Mikhail Piotrovsky tells me of his country.

“We make experiments. We show how things shouldn’t be done. Just having a good goal or a good idea doesn’t mean the results will be good. We gave a lesson to the world.”

The Bolsheviks wanted to do more than just teach the world. They wanted to change it. They believed their coup would set the dominoes tumbling and spark a global uprising of workers.

“Proletarians of the world, unite!” was the rallying cry of communism.

The new world was to look very different. Portraits of tsars gave way to posters of factory workers . Newborn babies were given revolutionary first names, like “Barricade”, “Kim” (short for “Communist International of Youth”) and “Ninel” (“Lenin” backwards).

The new world would sound different, too.

In a tiny St Petersburg art studio, Petr Theremin demonstrates the exotic instrument his great-grandfather Leon invented soon after the revolution. Without touching it, Petr is producing haunting tones, simply by moving his hands up and down near two antennae. Invisible electromagnetic waves conjure up a sound reminiscent of a lilting voice or violin .

The theremin was one of the world’s first electronic instruments. The Bolshevik leader Vladimir Lenin was captivated by it. He enlisted the machine and its maker in his campaign to spread electricity across Russia. Lenin gave Theremin a free pass for the railways, so the inventor could display his masterpiece - and promote electrification – across the country.

Once the Bolshevik leader requested a private demonstration in the Kremlin.

“Lenin decided to try out the instrument himself,” Petr tells me. “My great-grandfather took Lenin’s hand and moved it around the theremin. He helped him play The Lark by Glinka. There was a joke at the time that Leon Theremin was the only man in the world who could control Lenin.”

By the time Stalin was running the USSR, there was little to joke about. Lenin’s successor was a paranoid dictator, who unleashed a wave of terror against his own people.

In 1939, after returning from a trip to America, Leon Theremin was arrested, accused of being a counter-revolutionary and sent to a labour camp.

We needed democracy. What we got was a catastrophe.”

Millions of people were arrested in Stalin’s purges and repressions. Hundreds of thousands of innocent Soviet citizens were shot. Leon Theremin survived the gulag. While still a prisoner, he was transferred to a secret research laboratory in Moscow to work with other top scientists plucked from the labour camps.

“There were, of course, some positive results from the revolution,” concedes Petr. “Like the spread of literacy and electrification. But the seizure of power by the Bolsheviks was a tragedy for the country. We needed democracy. What we got was a catastrophe.”

In St Petersburg a century on there are few banners or advertising hoardings celebrating the anniversary of Red October, and there are no official commemorations on the scale, or style, of a French Bastille Day. For if modern France still identifies with the ideals of its revolution – “liberty, equality, fraternity” - modern Russia, particularly its government, is hesitant about 1917.

Like Russia’s national symbol - the double-headed eagle - the Russian authorities are torn two ways over the events of 1917. On the one hand, Red October gave birth to the Soviet Union, a superpower President Putin has often praised. The Kremlin leader once described the collapse of the USSR as “the greatest geo-political catastrophe” of the 20th Century.

Yet an armed uprising against the government is not the kind of example the Kremlin wishes to promote - especially in the light of Russia’s economic problems.

“The attitude of the authorities to the Russian Revolution is radio silence,” says historian Sergei Podbolotov. “One of the revolution’s main ideas – the abolition of private property - is totally alien to the current regime. So is the idea of taking up arms and attacking police.”

But the revolutionary cocktail of a century ago - food shortages, an unpopular war and widespread disillusionment with the government – does not exist today.

Despite Western sanctions against Russia, the supermarket shelves of St Petersburg are well-stocked. The coffee shops and trendy bars of Nevsky Prospekt are packed with young Russians chatting on smartphones or glued to their tablets.

Many of these people were born after 1991, the year communism collapsed and the Soviet Union crumbled.

Nevsky Prospekt

Bathed in the sunlight of a late Russian autumn, the “Venice of the North” looks like an oasis of calm. But political discontent still stirs.

In a St Petersburg park, named after Mars, the Roman god of war, hundreds of people have gathered for an anti-government protest . Many are supporters of opposition leader and Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny , who wants to run for president next March. But convictions for fraud, which Navalny claims are politically motivated, bar him from the ballot. The suspicion that the Kremlin is not playing fair has brought people out on the streets.

“I want to live in a Russia that is fair to all its citizens,” one of the protesters, Olga, tells me. “And I want a leader who listens to his people. Vladimir Putin doesn’t.”

“Personally, I don’t think that Navalny would be a good president,” another protester tells me. “But I believe elections should be democratic – not what we have now.”

No-one here is calling for a 21st Century Russian revolution.

“Revolution means blood and deaths,” Katya tells me. “We want honest elections, not revolution.”

The authorities are taking no chances. There is a heavy police presence. Through loudhailers, police are asking the crowd to disperse, declaring this an unsanctioned gathering. The protesters believe they do not require permission to express an opinion.

Some of the protesters decide to march off through the city centre. It is Vladimir Putin’s birthday. The crowd is about to spoil the president’s party.

“Putin is a thief!” they chant.

“Russia without Putin!”

“Send the tsar to the labour camp!”

Riot police with truncheons line up across the road. Minutes later, they start dragging people from the crowd. Police buses quickly fill up with detained protesters.

At night a few dozen protesters appear outside the Winter Palace. They hold up signs with Alexei Navalny’s name and chant sarcastically “Happy birthday!” to the president.

Their protest is a faint echo of those 1917 revolutionaries who seized the palace and dug holes in Emperor Alexander’s portrait.

Yet these young people are not here to make a revolution. They are making a point - that the government should listen to the people.

The Russian authorities often brush off protesters as a tiny minority. But with real incomes falling and 20 million Russians living below the poverty line, any signs of dissent make the Kremlin nervous.

The fallen idol

I see the ghosts of communism past.

Philosopher Karl Marx is here. He looks deep in thought.

Dictator Joseph Stalin is here, too. He looks sinister.

Once communist idols, these giants of history – or rather their statues – have been put out to grass in a park near Moscow.

Here, too, stands the leader of the Russian Revolution, Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov, known to the world as Lenin . Indeed, there are lots of Lenins here. In one pose, he is the great thinker, with hand on chin. In another, he’s chatting to children. A third statue has Lenin toiling away at his desk.

A recent study calculated that there are more than 14,000 Lenin statues across the former Soviet Union . It used to be that wherever you went in the USSR, you could be certain there was at least one Lenin looking your way.

In life, Lenin was a charismatic revolutionary. In death he was transformed into communism’s first personality cult. As well as the statues, his face stared down on Soviet citizens from billboards; his portrait was carried at communist parades; he was praised in songs and poems. The cradle of the Russian Revolution, St Petersburg, was renamed Leningrad in his honour.

Lenin taught generations of Soviet children to read. On a trip to the USSR, I once bought a reading book for nine-year-old school kids to practise my Russian. Here is my translation of page 149:

“Lenin’s name is in everyone’s heart!

“We always remember Lenin, We think of him so dear. We consider that his birthday, Is the best day of the year.

“We learn to serve the motherland, Just like Lenin would, To love labour and value friendship, Like only Lenin could.”

Accompanying the poem is a picture of two children gazing religiously at Lenin’s portrait.

It is one of the ironies of the Russian Revolution that the man who led it, who waged war on the Church and declared all religious ideas “an abomination” ended up the closest thing communism had to a god.

At the heart of this cult was Lenin’s final resting place - the macabre mausoleum on Red Square, where his embalmed body was displayed and worshipped like a Soviet saint. A whole scientific institute was created to preserve the corpse . To keep Lenin looking like Lenin, the team of scientists has had to replace some skin and flesh over the years with plastics and other materials.

In communist times people would queue for up to six hours to see the body of the "vozhd", or "great leader". Not today. To many in modern Russia, Lenin is more a museum piece than an object of adoration. Curiosity still draws foreign tourists. But the much shorter queues suggest that Russians have lost interest in him.

1950: The queue to see Lenin's body stretches across Red Square

Today there is a new cult in town. True, I have yet to see a statue of Vladimir Putin in Moscow. But the souvenir shops here are full of Putin busts. You can also buy Putin mugs, fridge magnets, T-shirts, smartphone covers, even Putin chocolates. You name it, Putin’s face is currently on it. I have counted at least five different Putin 2018 calendars on sale in the newspaper kiosks. They all feature various pin-up poses of Russia’s action-man president.

While Brand Putin sells, Bolshevik Lenin is under fire. And it is the Orthodox Church, increasingly influential in Russia, which is leading the charge against him.

“One lesson of the revolution is we should not allow society to be shaken by people coming from abroad with a special task,” Metropolitan Hilarion, head of external relations for the Russian Orthodox Church, tells me.

Metropolitan Hilarion of the Russian Orthodox Church: The Bolshevik revolution was a “criminal” act

“The Bolshevik revolution started with the arrival of Lenin and more than 200 other revolutionaries who came by train through Germany. Their trip was sponsored by Germany, which was at war with Russia. This indicates the whole affair was criminal.”

In other words, with Lenin’s help, a foreign power orchestrated regime change in Russia in 1917. The argument has a contemporary ring to it. In recent years Moscow has accused Western governments of plotting social unrest in Russia.

The Russian authorities also link the West to the so-called “coloured revolutions” that have deposed pro-Moscow regimes, from Ukraine to Georgia. Russian officials often refer to Red October as “the first coloured revolution.”

So, if Vladimir Lenin is a fallen idol, is it time to remove him from the mausoleum and bury his body?

Despite Lenin’s declining popularity, it is a controversial question. When debating it earlier this year, a popular Russian TV talk show descended into a shouting match.

“Remove Lenin, he’s a criminal,” shouted one nationalist politician.

What’s the point?” retorted a communist MP. “Will that make food prices any lower?”

A nun chimed in: “Who brought us Lenin? The Germans did in a sealed train. I say put his body back in the same train and send it back to them!”

Among the guests taking part in that raucous TV show was businessman Stanislav Svistunov. I visit him at his factory in the north of Moscow.

Stanislav’s company decorates plastic products, including funeral accessories. Plastic coffin handles and crucifixes go into the machines and when they emerge they are sparkling with a golden coating.

There is an irony to Stanislav being in the business of religious appendages.

He shows me a book. It is the family history of Vladimir Lenin - the communist who declared war on the Church.

“I am Lenin’s great-great-grandnephew,” declares Stanislav, pointing to a family tree. “My great-great-great-grandmother, Sophia, was the sister of Maria, Lenin’s mother.”

Stanislav assures me that only once did his family benefit from their famous relative. One year back in the 1930s winter was so cold that his great-grandfather and great-grandmother had to burn some of their furniture to keep warm. Out of desperation they wrote to the authorities mentioning the family connection.

Stanislav Svistunov - related to Lenin

“Some people came to check their identity papers. Shortly after, a lorry arrived with firewood. My great-grandfather was sworn to secrecy about it.”

As for what to do with Lenin’s body, Stanislav assumes it will be up to the Kremlin to decide.

“Only one man can take the decision to bury Lenin - our president,” Stanislav tells me.

He raises an interesting point. If Lenin’s body is removed from Red Square, does that mean all the other bodies interred there should be taken away, too?

There are lots of them. More than 200 revolutionaries lie in a mass grave on Red Square. Also buried beside the Kremlin are dozens of Soviet leaders, scientists, military commanders and cosmonauts.

“One idea may be to bury Lenin inside the mausoleum,” suggests Stanislav. “This would partly satisfy those people who say his body should be in the ground, and those who want him to stay on Red Square. I back this option.”

The Orthodox Church takes a different view.

“He should be buried. Not because he deserves a Christian funeral - he was anti-Christian. But because this symbol of the revolution should find its proper place - not on Red Square and not in a mausoleum,” says Metropolitan Hilarion.

“I regret his burial was not conducted in the early 1990s, when it would have been easier to do. It is more difficult now. There will be protests. The Communist Party is strongly against this. But I believe it is only a matter of time before he is buried. This should be done sooner or later.”

“Lenin lived! Lenin lives! Lenin will live!” proclaimed a famous Soviet slogan.

In a way, he does live on - in the thousands of Lenin statues, Lenin Avenues and Lenin Squares that exist in Russia to this day; in his mausoleum beside the Kremlin; in the hearts of committed communists. But the shadow he casts over Russia is fading. Whether or not his body remains in Red Square, to most Russians now the man who made the revolution is like those statues I saw in the park - a ghost from a lost world.

The sainted family

Outside Yekaterinburg, autumn has carpeted the forest with golden leaves. All around me, silver birches seem to be whispering, as their leaves rustle in the breeze.

It is so beautiful here - like walking through a Russian fairy tale.

Then, through the trees, I spot something that jars with the magical setting - an Orthodox cross. It marks the place of a grim discovery - the remains of Russia’s last tsar, Nicholas II, and his family. The Bolsheviks had murdered them, mutilated their bodies, and disposed of their victims in a shallow grave in the forest.

Pensioner Vladimir Kotlyakov is sweeping leaves and twigs away from the cross. He comes every day to keep this place tidy.

Vladimir Kotlyakov

Nicholas II believed he had a God-given right to rule Russia. But frustrated by food shortages and setbacks in World War One, his subjects reached a different conclusion.

Following the February Revolution, Nicholas was forced to abdicate. His brother refused the throne - three centuries of Romanov rule were over.

Nicholas, his wife Alexandra and their five children - Olga, Tatiana, Maria, Anastasia and Alexei - were placed under house arrest near St Petersburg. Later they were moved to Siberia and, a few months after the October Revolution, transported to Yekaterinburg in the Ural Mountains.

They were locked inside the Ipatiev House. The Bolsheviks referred to it, ominously, as the House of Special Purpose. Around midnight on 17 July 1918, the Romanovs and four of their most loyal servants were taken down to the basement - for their own safety, they were told. There they were shot and bayoneted by a Bolshevik execution squad . It was a brutal, bloody end to the most powerful dynasty in modern European history.

The Soviets demolished the Ipatiev House in 1977 - an attempt to erase the memory of the tsar. But on the spot where the house stood, modern Russia has built a church.

The tsar’s killers saw themselves as gods. This sickness of the mind became the fever of the 20th Century.”

Painted on the walls of the Church on the Blood are scenes from Tsar Nicholas’s life, such as his coronation. At the front of the church an icon bears the faces of the tsar, tsarina and their children. The Orthodox Church has elevated them to sainthood.

“The calamities Russia endured, the civil war, the 1930s terror, World War Two, they were all a punishment for what happened here,” Bishop Yevgeny of the Urals diocese tells me.

“Emperor Nicholas understood that God was above him. But the tsar’s killers saw themselves as gods. This sickness of the mind became the fever of the 20th Century.”

In the 1990s, a Russian government commission concluded that the bones exhumed in the forest belonged to Nicholas, Alexandra and three of their children - Olga, Tatiana and Anastasia. They were laid to rest in St Petersburg.

In 2007 what were believed to be the remains of Maria and Alexei were found . The Russian Orthodox Church demanded further tests and has yet to recognise these as the remains of the Romanovs. But when I spoke to him in Moscow, Metropolitan Hilarion indicated that there was “a very strong chance” the Church would do so in the near future.

In a building next to the Church on the Blood, I attend a children’s choir rehearsal. Looking down from the wall is Nicholas II. His portrait provides inspiration to the young choristers.

“The tsar and his family set us a moral example that we try to follow,” Alexandra explains. “They believed in God so much, they suffered for it.”

“I always think of him as the captain of a big ship called Russia,” says Anastasiya. “He was on this ship till the very end, till the country ended. He was so brave and I admire him.”

Anastasiya: “[Tsar Nicholas] was so brave and I admire him.”

It is an idealised and somewhat distorted image of Russia’s last tsar. For, if Nicholas II was the captain, does he not bear some responsibility for the sinking of imperial Russia?

It was the tsar’s soldiers who fired on peaceful protesters outside the Winter Palace in 1905. It was Nicholas who brought the mystic and faith-healer Grigory Rasputin into the royal court. As a private adviser to the Romanovs, the renegade monk interfered in matters of state and further damaged the prestige of the monarchy.

Illustration portraying Bloody Sunday, January 1905, when tsarist soldiers fired upon unarmed marchers in St Petersburg

Nicholas’s decision to take personal command of the tsarist army in World War One proved disastrous. And ever the inflexible autocrat, the tsar was incapable of steering Russia clear of revolution.

The Provisional Government that took over from him made mistakes, too. But ultimately, the Bolsheviks seized power in a country that had been weakened by years of imperial mismanagement.

In post-communist Russia, it is not only the tsar who is enjoying a revival. So is the Church. In 1989, Russia had 6,000 Orthodox churches. Today there are more than 36,000.

Formerly a pillar of tsarist autocracy, Orthodoxy once again enjoys a close connection to the state. As the Kremlin strives to shape a new national ideology around patriotism and ultra-conservative values, the Church is playing a key role .

In a school playground on the edge of Yekaterinburg, I watch children practising traditional Cossack sword-spinning. The school, which has built its own church, is one of several in the area where education is centred on piety, patriotism and a glorious past.

“We are rediscovering our culture of a century ago, not just with swords, but with songs and dances,” 14-year-old Nikolai tells me. “But for me, faith is the most important thing in life - it is the reason we are here.”

I talk to the school director, Alexei Solovyov. He recalls that in Soviet times, when atheism was an official state doctrine, only one church was open in Yekaterinburg, or Sverdlovsk, as it was known under communism. It is a city of more than a million people.

“Outside the church there were always police in civilian clothes,” recalls Alexei. “They didn’t harass the old people. But any young people that went up to the door were taken aside for a conversation.”

Yet communism failed to replace God in Russians’ hearts.

“My great-grandmother was a communist,” Alexei recalls. “She worked as a cook. She even cooked for Tsar Nikolai’s killers in the Ipatiev House. But in the 1930s she was a victim of Stalin’s purges. She spent five years in the gulag for being a ‘Trotskyite’. When she came out, she ditched all that revolutionary hype and turned to religion.”

But if Russians are looking to the past to shape their future, might they decide to restore the monarchy? That is unlikely.

“Monarchy is a good way of governing,” schoolteacher Olga tells me. “But times have changed. Anyway, our president is a man who kind of governs the way the tsar tried to govern. He is a real ruler, a real patriot. He doesn’t allow other countries to humiliate our citizens.”

Back in the forest, where the bones of Nicholas II were found, Vladimir Kotlyakov seems confused.

“Russia needs a tsar. I’m fed up with disorder here. ‘President’ isn’t a Russian word. ‘Tsar’ – now that’s a Russian word! Let the people choose a tsar.”

My trip to Yekaterinburg has reminded me that Russia is a country of extremes.

It is a country that can leap from “Down with the Tsar!” to “Saint Nicholas”; from destroying churches to building them; from communism to capitalism; from freezing winters to boiling hot summers.

It is a country of contradictions.

October's son

The Russian Revolution hadn’t even happened when Lev Lipovich was born.

By the time the Bolsheviks had seized the Winter Palace, Lev was already seven months old.

A hundred years of Russian history are etched into his face.

Lev Lipovich

“I fought in four wars, and I survived three famines,” Lev tells me with a hint of pride.

We are sitting in his tiny apartment in the city of Khabarovsk, the capital of the Russian Far East. Out of the window you can see the point where the two great rivers of eastern Russia meet - the Amur and the Ussuri.

On the roads here there are few Russian-built cars - it is cheaper for people to buy right-hand drives from Japan. The border with China is just 25km from here.

Red Square feels a world away. And we are more than 6,000km (3,700 miles) from the cradle of the October Revolution, St Petersburg.

“I am a son of October,” he explains. “To me, Revolution Day - 7 November - is my second birthday because I see that as the day the USSR was born.”

Lev was born in the Crimea in April 1917. When he was 11, his parents sent him to a factory boarding school.

“For my first 20 years my motherland fed me, clothed me, put shoes on my feet. It gave me an education. When I joined the army, I started to repay my debt to my country.”

At the age of 15, Lev learnt to fly. He became a fighter pilot. His first experience of battle was the Winter War between the Soviet Union and Finland; he fought in World War Two, what Russians refer to as the Great Patriotic War; in 1945 he flew missions against Japan and in North Korea.

He concedes he is lucky to be alive. While battling Nazi Germany, he was shot down over the Baltic Sea.

“The shell hit my right engine,” he recalls. “No sooner had I catapulted out, the plane burst into flames. For four hours I struggled in the water. Then a Soviet submarine spotted me and pulled me out.”

In peacetime Lev switched to civil aviation. In his 47 years as a pilot, he recorded an astonishing 36,000 flight hours - the equivalent of four years in the air.

Lev opens a folder and takes out a faded certificate - it is an official letter of thanks to him from Joseph Stalin. He speaks fondly of the Soviet dictator.

Lev's letter of thanks from Joseph Stalin

“On the side of my warplane were these words: 'For the motherland! For Stalin!'

“But what about the repressions?” I ask. “What about Stalin’s terror?”

“You don’t understand,” he says dismissively. “Stalin was a patriot. He was an intelligent, modest, iron man.”

He tells me how he thinks Russians have survived a century of drama and bloodshed.

“Because our people are strong; we are patriotic; we love our land and we are ready to die for it.”

Lev talks at length about the USSR’s military encounters with foreign powers. Yet when he was a child, Russians were fighting Russians. The civil war that followed the revolution divided families across the country - it was bloody and brutal. Forces loyal to the Bolsheviks, the Reds, were battling the opponents of communism, the Whites. Not until 1922 did the Bolsheviks finally establish control over the Far East.

The decisive battle of the civil war took place near Khabarovsk, on a hill by the village of Volochaevka. When the Reds won, the victors did all they could to make sure that history would record them as the heroes.

Soviet artists produced a 43m-long panoramic painting of the battle to proclaim the victory of communism. It was celebrated in song, too. A military march about Volochaevka became one of the most popular numbers in the Red Army Choir’s repertoire.

On the battle site, a museum was built to honour the heroism and sacrifice of the pro-Soviet soldiers. A memorial plaque referred to 118 Reds in a communal grave. There was no mention of the Whites who died here.

The monument marking the battle at Volochaevka

Yet as post-communist Russia begins to look more critically at the revolution, the official interpretation of the civil war, too, is changing.

On Volochaevka hill today the museum is closed; the building is crumbling. The Orthodox Church has erected a small chapel here - a sign that this area is no longer a communist shrine.

At the local high school, children are taught that the civil war was a tragedy for all Russians, with no “good guys” or “bad guys”. The school museum recounts the battle of Volochaevka in neutral tones. On display here are rusting bayonets, bullet casings and guns from the battle, found by students in the forest.

“It would be wrong to show a bias for the Reds or the Whites,” teacher Alexei Zaitsev tells me. “We try to find a middle way and recount this historical event through facts.”

The school museum is open to the public. But not all the visitors appreciate the revised history.

“It wasn’t that long ago that the Soviet Union disappeared,” Alexei reminds me. “Some of our visitors still support the USSR and don’t like what we say now about the Whites.”

Like shifting sands, the past in Russia seems to change right under your feet. One moment Russians are being told to praise “Great October”; the next they are being told the revolution was not so great after all. One day religion is the “opium of the people”; the next it is the life and soul of Russia. So often here the past is rewritten, reinterpreted, reshaped, depending on who is in power.

“Every 50 years everything changes here. We cope.”

Back in Khabarovsk, I meet three generations of one family strolling in the park: 13-year-old Sofia, her mother, Anna, and grandmother, Nina.

“It’s difficult when history changes,” Anna tells me. “It’s hard for youngsters to understand what is good and what is bad. TV says one thing, parents say another and teachers say something else.”

“Yes,” says Sofia. “It’s hard to know which opinion is the right one.”

“Then again, it’s always been like this in Russia,” reflects Anna. “Every 50 years everything changes here. We cope.”

On the banks of the Amur river, I chat to pensioner Alexander Vasilievich. He is clearly struggling to make sense of Russia’s past.

Alexander accuses the man who led the October Revolution of hoodwinking the people.

“Lenin promised land to the peasants and factories to the workers. But he didn’t deliver.”

He remembers how empty the shops were in Khabarovsk in Soviet times.

“I used to fly to Moscow to buy shoes,” he admits. And yet Alexander is nostalgic about the communist past.

“I want it all back as it was. Back then I always had a job and a decent salary. Workers had more social protection, too, than now.”

“Not under Stalin, surely?” I reply. “What about the terror?”

“Who on earth knows who was right back then and who was wrong?” he answers.

“Who on earth knows…?” is not the kind of question you will hear from 100-year-old Lev Lipovich. I suspect he will always see himself as a “son of October” and retain an iron belief in the revolution and its ideals.

But on my journey across Russia I have met many people who feel confused and disoriented by the current reinterpretation of history. For life is not easy in a country where not only the future is unpredictable, but also the past.

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Haunted and supernatural Moscow

Khovrinskaya Abandoned Hospital. Source : Wikipedia

Khovrinskaya Abandoned Hospital (KZB)

The Khovrinskaya abandoned hospital is on a list of “creepiest places on the planet.” Chernobyl ranks only a few slots ahead of it. Large-scale construction on KZB started in 1981.

The structure was originally to include 1,500 beds, a polyclinic, laboratories and helicopter landing pads. However, it turned out that the site was a poor choice.

The pavement did not hold up, and the nearly completed hospital the size of a city started slowly sinking into the groundwater. Consequently, construction was halted.

An introductory guide to Moscow’s graveyards

The city authorities still have not been able to decide what to do with all of this. On the other hand, Satanists quickly started gravitating to the site.

One sect claimed responsibility for the disappearance of people and animals in Khovrin. Cult followers allegedly used dogs and beggars for blood rituals.

A legend arose in Moscow saying that the police launched a raid on sect members and chased them into a tunnel and then shot the Satanists, who were unspeakably glad about this, for they went straight from the tunnel into the arms of the prince of darkness. To this day, on dark winter nights one can hear a chorus of them singing in the tunnel.

Every year, dozens drawn to the place in search of adventures inevitably break legs, arms and necks. It has become a pilgrimage destination for goths, punks, emos and others.

The hospital is full of holes, depressions, open elevator shafts and protruding fittings. The police regularly pull adventure seekers out of air shafts in the basement or from the attics, where they hide from security guards.

The main ghost of the hospital is considered to be Alexey Krayushkin, who jumped off the roof because of an unrequited love. One floor of the building houses a sort of memorial: an entire wall is covered with graffiti whose overall message (in both poetry and prose) is, “We will remember and mourn.”

Source: Lori / Legion Media

The name of this district comes from the word “ostanki” (remains): the television station building was erected here on the site of an old cemetery.

About 500 years ago, the notorious Old Woman of Ostankino first appeared here, when she came to the ruler of the Ostankino village, the boyar Satin, and forbade him to till the land because it agitated the dead. The old woman was chased out and the villagers tilled the land; after this, the boyar fell into disgrace and was executed.

How to spend a perfect day in Moscow

The Old Woman of Ostankino also appeared to:

The Tsar Paul, who came to Ostankino. She said that Paul would not survive until spring, and she was telling the truth—he did not survive.

Alexander II, who was passing through Ostankino. She said he would perish at the hands of an infidel. The emperor was killed by a member of the leftist group, Narodnaya Volya.

In October 1993,  a few days before the assault on the TV station , the old woman again appeared in Ostankino and said that it would smell of blood there. Soon after that, it did indeed smell of blood.

The old woman was also spotted before the 2000 fire at the Ostankino television tower, when four people were killed.

28 Malaya Nikitskaya St., Beria’s Mansion

Urban legend has it that Stalin’s chief of the secret police, Lavrentiy Beria, would snatch pretty women up from Moscow’s streets at night and take them home.

In the morning, having dishonored the beauties, he would shoot them. Now, this tainted house is the site of the Tunisian embassy, and in it someone scatters papers from a safe around a room, and footsteps echo in the hallways at night.

So far, no one has been able to catch a glimpse of a person. Diplomats have supposedly requested a new building, but their request has been denied.

Maly   Ivanovsky Lane. John the Baptist Convent

Darya Saltykova, who is popularly known as Saltychikha, spent 30 years in confinement here for the particularly gruesome murder of 74 serfs (counting only the proven cases!). Catherine II said that Saltychikha did not deserve to be called a woman and could be called only a monstrosity of humanity.

Even in prison, Saltychikha held on to her wicked tastes, and being unable to torture, burn and kill living people, she yelled at and spit on them from behind bars.

She died in prison. People say that Saltychikha’s ghost still appears in the vicinity of the convent. Encountering her presages an impending death.

Pushkin Theater on   Tverskaya Boulevard

Source: Vladimir Fedorenko / RIA Novosti

Created by the director Tairov, the Chamber Theater was rebuilt in the 1950s. As a result, the new part of the building ended up on the site of the cemetery of the John the Apostle church.

Tairov did not grasp this, but it is said that his widow, the leading lady Alisa Koonen, cursed the theater in her heart and died in 1974. Then it was as if a tornado hit: Productions were failures and the audience either hissed at shows or did not attend them. Koonen’s ghost still wandered the halls.

In 1991, the site was sanctified and the ghost disappeared. According to legend, before that, during a performance, a tropical butterfly of unearthly beauty suddenly appeared, circled around the stage and then flew away. Rumors started soon after that, saying Koonen’s soul was bidding farewell to the theater.

Golosov Ravine in Kolomensky Park

Source: Wikipedia

Some people think that the name “Golosov” comes from Volos (Veles)—a pagan deity that ruled over the world of the afterlife. According to another version, the Golosov ravine has this name because the voices (“golosa”) of people who have entered the ravine and not returned can be heard from there.

During excavations in the vicinity of the ravine, workers uncovered the remains of ancient settlements. After that, the ravine became even more popular among enthusiasts of the afterlife and the occult.

The ravine has always been considered a wicked place. In the 17th century, according to some sources, an entire squadron of Tatar horsemen came out of the ravine and went to the gates of the Kolomensky palace.

Discovering Gothic Moscow: A tour of architectural masterpieces

The riders were arrested and interrogated. The Tatars demonstrated that they belonged to the army of the khan Devlet Girey. There was just one problem: This khan had gone to Moscow around a hundred years earlier, in the mid-16th century.

In the 19th century, newspapers wrote about numerous citizens who had mysteriously disappeared around the ravine.

In 1832, Moskovskie Vedomosti reported on a peasant who at the bottom of the ravine had encountered uncommonly tall people dressed in hides, who emerged from the deep fog and then quickly disappeared.

First published in Russian in  Moskovskie Novosti .

All rights reserved by Rossiyskaya Gazeta.

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