Nautical Tattoos - Mermaids, Sparrows, and Pirates!

Nautical tattoos are associated with the history of tattooing. Sailors were responsible for reviving the practice of tattooing. With the sailors collecting souvenirs of their travels to the Polynesian islands and Southeast Asia, they spread the popularity of tattoo designs upon their return as people from their homelands became intrigued by the art form.

The life of a sailor was dangerous and lonely and many men lost their lives at sea. With many months at sea and far from home, sailors found that tattoos were a wonderful way to tell the story of their travels in addition to feeding the many superstitions that sailors believed in. Tattoo symbols were amulets and talismans to protect sailors from the dangers of sea life.

Sailors also like to keep visual reminders of their families and the women they may have met at different ports. This led to the popularity of mermaids and pin-up girls, and hearts with names of loved ones.

The 'nautical' star is a symbol typically associated with sailors and tattoos. It is usually depicted as a five-pointed star in alternating shades of dark and light in the same manner seen on compasses and old nautical charts and maps. Sailors originally favored the star tattoo design because of the importance of the compass and a tattoo of a nautical star helped the wearer to always find their way home. It gave the sailor a sense of security when facing the dangers and uncertainty of traveling on a sailing ship back in the day when the occupation was an extremely dangerous one.

These days, people choose the nautical star because it is a popular and attractive tattoo symbol. Some people choose this symbol because they like the representation – always being able to find their way home. For some it is a symbol to follow your dreams, something to let everyone know that you are following a path you’ve chosen.

The mermaid tattoo symbol has its origins from the early 1300’s when rumors of sailors spotting them when they were out to sea for long stretches. A mermaid tattoo was said to bring luck to a sailor if he happened to fall overboard.

Mermaid were said to be beautiful creatures with irresistible voices which could entrance sailors that within earshot. It was said that anyone coming into contact with a mermaid would be under their spell.

Today, it is believed that sailor that brought back tales of seeing mermaids on rocks in the ocean were actually seeing manatees on the rocks. Manatees are large as humans and its’ believe the sailors mistook them for the mythical creatures.

You can think of mermaid tattoos as being the first pin-up tattoo design.

A popular tattoo with sailors back in the 1700’s and 1800’s isn’t quite as popular today but that is partly because hand and finger tattoos are frowned upon. The term “Hold Fast” is old school traditional and is tattooed on the 4 finger of each hand.

On a ship, a rope is “fast” when is it firmly secured. The original meaning was a superstitious wish for sailors. It represented a wish to keep their hands from slipping on lines or when they worked on deck during nasty weather. When the sailors had to secure themselves to the rigging on the ship for security.

The octopus is a mysterious creature that lends itself to tattoo work in an attractive way. The tentacles and arms allow artists to wrap the octopus around shoulders and legs very easily. There's a female tattoo artist, Judy Parker, who specializes in aquatic tattoos. I watched her put a full leg mermaid on a guy at a tattoo convention in Miami. She was offering discounted pricing as long as you let her do a mermaid. It was beautiful and the guy got a $1000 tattoo for $200. He was happy and the artist was happy.

Other popular sea creatures include turtles, sharks, and sea horses. A shark tattoo was to help protect sailors from being eaten by sharks if they fell overboard. S

Sometimes this design is referred to sparrow instead of swallow and the meaning and nautical importance dates back to the early 1600s. It was said that swallows were used to mark milestones in a sailors career. One swallow meant the sailor has logged a thousand miles at sea. A second swallow meant the sailor had logged ten thousand miles. They also were said to mean good luck to the sailors. Good luck in finding land and returning home. Other meanings documented say that some sailors believed that getting sparrow tattoos inked on their chests would insure their spirit would reach heaven if they perished at sea.

These may not be quite as popular as swallows and mermaids, but there have been some beautiful compositions created as back pieces that incorporate the nautical theme. These images are more manly than other nautical images so you're more likely to see a man sporting one of these. The popularity of pirates in recent years have also contributed to pirate popularity. Who doesn't love Johnny Depp?

These tattoos are traditionally placed on top of the feet as you see in the picture below. Both of these animals have a fear of the water and can’t swim. To a sailor, these images were to help him if he happened to be drowning in the sea. The two animals would prevent the sailor from sinking and speed him back to land. This is one of the less popular and least popular of the nautical tattoos but I think it’s very cute. Especially since people get them in the traditional part of the body.

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