Star Tattoo

Star tattoos are very popular tattoo designs for women as well as men. They are popular as a first tattoo because star tattoos are usually small in design and they don't have to be very complicated, a simple black star tattoo can be very striking.

Read on and be inspired by our star tattoo ideas. There are many variations of star tattoos and many claim that these images have a powerful symbolic or metaphysical meaning. In fact, the star is one of the oldest symbols and a significant image in many religions and belief systems.

Stars have always been awe inspiring, even today, when we have science to help us understand what they are. Before modern times, humans looked up at the sky and tried to explain that magnificent view with the help of mythology and religion. That's why stars and star tattoos became such a powerful symbol. Stars are universal symbols, not tied to a specific religion or culture, and can mean a lot of different things to a lot of different people.

Shooting Star Tattoos:

Shooting star tattoos are a very popular image, being versatile and pretty. They are suggestive of wishes coming true. A shooting star tattoo can incorporate a 'trail' of smaller area but still remain subtle. Shooting star tattoos are also a symbol for (short-lived) success and good luck.

Nautical Star Tattoos:

The nautical star tattoo is the most masculine design amongst star tattoos. Nautical star tattoos are considered old school. In the early days of tattooing, they used to be popular amongst sailors, who had them for guidance and protection. Sailor Jerry is a famous tattoo artist from those days. The nautical star is a 5 pointed star, the point are split in half and filled with an alternating color (usually black-red or black-white), creating a 3d illusion.

Sailors used stars and the North Star for navigation, so it's not hard to see why so many of them have star tattoos. They function as a guide to get them back home safely. Soldiers have them for the same reason. Swallow tattoos also have a similar kind of nautical history. Also today, people have star tattoos for similar reasons, you can rely on them when you are lost in your life, the are a light in the darkness.
In Ireland the nautical star tattoo has a special meaning in the gay and lesbian community. Some gay and lesbian people have a nautical star tattooed on their wrist as a sign of their disposition. The wrist is a place that can easily be covered by wearing a watch or a bracelet. Curiously, many celebrities have a star tattoo on their wrist.

The Star of David Tattoo:
Some star tattoos also have a religious meaning, like a Star of David tattoo. The star of David, a Jewish symbol, is a 6 pointed star and symbolizes the rule of god over the universe and his protection from all directions.

Moon Star Tattoos:

Moon star tattoos are just what they sound like they combine a moon and star image, the standard representation of the night sky. Some of these have a slightly fairy tale look, like an image from a child's picture book. Others are more stylized.

These and other star tattoos can incorporated into a tribal style tattoo design. In fact, sometimes a star shape is open to interpretation more of a stylized star shaped tattoo design. Moon star tattoos don't have the deep symbolic meaning the other star tattoos have, but they can be very beautiful designs.

The 56 Star Girl:
A 18 year old Belgian girl called Kimberley got world famous in a couple of days because of her tattoo story, that goes like this:

Kimberley went to a local tattoo artist because she wants 3 colored dots tattooed on her face. The tattoo artist convinces her to have 3 stars instead of dots. What follows is a bit unclear, but she claims she fell asleep or passed out anyway, when she wakes up she discovers she has 56 stars on the left side of her face. Very strange story, why would a tattoo artist do such thing anyway and how can you fall asleep while having a tattoo? Some people say the whole story is a hoax orchestrated by a local radio station.....

Update: Kimberley confessed off camera that she didn't fall asleep and that she made up the whole story because she was afraid of her father's reaction. She wanted the stars tattoo and actually liked it in the beginning. She is now having the tattoo removed, a process that will take about 2 years, but should bring her face in the original condition. She says she wants to keep the stars above her eyes.

History of Tattoo

There are few art forms have been around for as long as tattooing in fact, some anthropologists claim that the history of tattoos may date back as long as 15,000 years.

 Certainly, we know that many of the ancient civilizations, including the Egyptians, Greeks, and Romans, used tattooing techniques. There are mentions of tattooing in the Bible, indicating that it was practiced among the ancient peoples of the Middle East as well. However, the remarkable thing about the history of tattoos is not just the length of time that humans have practiced it, looking at the history of body tattooing, we cannot help but be struck by how widespread this tradition was. Apparently, decorating the body in this permanent way is an almost universal impulse spread over a lot of different cultures.

Tribal Tattoo:

When relating the long history of tattooing, it's hard to know where to start. Around 2000 BCE tattooing had a cultural significance in places as diverse as China, Crete and Arabia. Among tribeswomen in Borneo, a tattoo on the forearm indicated that woman's special skills.

Among the Maori of New Zealand, in intricate tribal tattoo designs had a sacred significance. The Greeks and Romans used tattoos for a different purpose to show criminal or slave status. This is a concept that we could call the 'dark side' of tattoo history that fact that body tattooing  has been used in certain times in history, to indicate an inferior status. This is relatively unusual and in most cultures, tattoo art is a symbol of status or accomplishment.

The people of the Americas also practiced tattooing the Maya and Inca people were adept in tattooing techniques, as were the Inuit of Alaska. And while we may not be accustomed to thinking of Europeans in terms of 'tribes' it was not too long ago when the people practiced tattooing as well. However, following the Dark Ages in Europe, the people organized themselves into nations and tattooing became an all but forgotten art, only to be rediscovered during the course of eighteenth century exploration.

The New Tattoo Art:

In the early 1700s, the history of tattoos took a new twise. Captain Cook visited the South Pacific Islands and brought back with him an intricately tattooed young girl named Onai.

Instantly, tattoo designs become a hit, and many members of nobility obtained discreet, private tattoo art. For a brief time, tattooing then a costly, lengthy procedure became a status symbol. This all changed with the introduction of the first electric tattoo needle in 1891. Suddenly, everyone who wanted a tattoo could have one, and the result was that it came to be considered vulgar. This is after all a fairly typical human reaction when something is hard to get we ttend to want it more. 

After that, tattoo art went  underground, so to speak. A facility in New York's Chatham Square brought the practice to the modern American public, but tattooing was considered somewhat disreputable until it made a dramatic comeback a few decades ago. As tattoo designs and safety techniques improved and several prominent celebrities began to sport tattoos, they became desirable once again. Towards the end of the 1800s, criminals in America and even normal citizens were tattooed with a code for identification purposes.