Objects appear across every era and style of tattooing, and they are rarely chosen for their appearance alone. An object can carry historical or cultural symbolism accumulated over centuries. It can represent a tradition, a belief system, a craft, or a profession. It can function as a code within a subculture, or as something entirely private that only the wearer can read. Often several of these at once. The articles here cover individual objects as tattoo subjects: where their symbolic associations come from, how tattooing has adopted and reshaped them, and what each image has carried across different contexts and periods.
All | Animals | Botanicals | Maritime | Mythology & Fantasy | Sacred & Spiritual | Subculture | Objects | Patterns
The rose is almost certainly the single most frequently tattooed image in Western tattooing. It has been part of the flash vocabulary since the earliest commercial tattoo shops, it crosses every major style from traditional to fine line, it appears on every body part, and it carries a range of meanings wide enough to accommodate almost any personal intention.
The dagger is one of the most ancient objects humans have made, and it carries the accumulated weight of every function it has served — weapon, tool, ritual instrument, status symbol, sacred article, and element of visual art. A dagger tattoo can carry many meanings at once: personal and historical, martial and aesthetic, aggressive and protective.
A sailor wearing a fully rigged ship tattoo in 1920 was displaying a credential. A person wearing a fully rigged ship tattoo today may be referencing that tradition, or they may be referencing personal resilience, a love of maritime history, a specific life transition, the romance of the age of sail, or the sheer beauty of a vessel under canvas. All of these readings are legitimate.
The anchor tattoo is one of the oldest and most recognisable motifs in the world of body art. Simple in shape, yet rich in meaning, this symbol has been etched into the skin of seafarers, soldiers, and civilians alike for centuries. Far more than a decorative choice, the anchor carries deep historical, cultural, and personal significance.