Sparrow Tattoos

Sparrow Tattoos

Are you planning to get a bird tattoo? Along with the popular bird tattoos such as the swallow tattoo, American eagle tattoos or hummingbird tattoos, you also have the option of trying the attention grabbing sparrow tattoo designs. Sparrow tattoo designs have been popular since ages. You must understand the history and symbolism of the sparrow tattoo to understand the reason behind the popularity of the sparrow tattoo designs. Sparrow tattoos mean different things to different people. The use of design elements and blend of beautiful colors surely adds beauty to this tattoo. As far as the history of this tattoo is concerned, the sailors were one of the first people to popularize these tattoos. For them the sparrow bird was a symbol of good luck, therefore they used to get it inked on their body. Since sparrows stay close to land and don’t fly too far, spotting a sparrow became a sign that the land was near.

Sparrow Tattoos 

Sparrow Tattoos

Like most other bird tattoo meanings, with time, the meaning of sparrow tattoo has diversified as well. Sparrow tattoo has been associated with various emotions and is symbolic of ideals such as freedom, love, loyalty and success. These tattoos are also used as memorial tattoos. The ancient Egyptians had a belief that sparrows had the ability to catch the souls of the departed. Similarly the sailors also linked the sparrow to the end of their journey on the waters. Spotting a sparrow meant that they were about to reach the land and would soon be united with their loved ones. These tattoos are also linked with the prison culture, prisoners have popularized this tattoo for symbolizing their freedom from prison. This tattoo is also used to express profound love and loyalty. Read more on memorial tattoo designs.

Sparrow Tattoos

The sailors were among the first people to popularize this tattoo and that explains the popularity of the nautical theme. The combination of nautical star tattoos and other oceanic symbols with this sparrow tattoos is quite popular. Tattoo artists also incorporate ships, stars and flags in the sparrow tattoo designs. You just need to be creative and sparrow tattoo ideas can be used for beautifying a larger tattoo. You could have a tattoo showing a sparrow hovering over a coastline or diving into the water. The memorial tattoo designs generally show the sparrows holding a banner mentioning the name of the person being memorialized. Using calligraphy for the name would be a great idea. Another popular design is showing two or three sparrows diving towards the nautical star. This tattoo design is symbolic of the freedom to love and be loved in return. You could also use other design elements and tattoos to make your tattoo more meaningful. If you don’t want a big tattoo, you could just have a simple sparrow tattoo.

Sparrow Tattoos

Sparrow Tattoos

The art lies in the use of beautiful colors. This can be inked anywhere on your shoulder, arm, chest and feet. For sparrow tattoos for girls, you could add flowers, butterflies, hearts and other popular tattoo designs. You could have two sparrows to symbolize profound love. Sparrows carrying a rose or a necklace in their beak, a flying sparrow, or a sparrow perched on a branch are all popular sparrow tattoo ideas.

Sparrow Tattoos

Sparrow tattoos have become more popular with girls since the character of Jack Sparrow was played superbly by Johnny Depp in the movie Pirates of the Caribbean. Several designs have come up since then. Ideas for sparrow tattoos for guys could include sparrow tattoo on the back, memorial sparrow tattoo, or including sparrow tattoo as a part of a bigger tattoo. You could make a sparrow against a rising sun or around the waves of the sea. You could have a cartoon-styled image or a more realistic version of the sparrow. Whether you use this as a memorial tattoo or as a tattoo symbolizing your principles, it simply looks perfect.

Sparrow Tattoo Meaning

The modest looking sparrow has been immortalized by the famous Jack Sparrow of the Pirates of Caribbean series. From then on, most of us fell in love with the 'sparrow' all over again; some of us to such an extent that they had a sparrow tattoo made on their body. But is the likeness to Jack Sparrow the only sparrow tattoo meaning? Obviously not, there are several other meanings associated with this tattoo which we are going to see in this article.

Meaning of Sparrow Tattoo

Interestingly, sparrow tattoos go a long way as many of their references are found in history. If you are looking for the traditional sparrow tattoo meaning, then note that these tattoos were made mostly by sailors who had crossed the sea. In fact, only those sailors who had crossed the sea were allowed to make a sparrow tattoo on their body. In olden times, the sailors would follow the sparrows to land; i.e., seek directions from their movement. This is the most common meaning or symbolism of sparrow tattoo which was followed in many parts of the world. Therefore, we find that the earlier or the historical symbolism of nautical star tattoos and sparrow tattoos, is the same. Let us take a look at some other sparrow tattoo meanings.

• Symbolic meaning of sparrow tattoo is that this bird is associated with finding proper directions and hence, it is associated with the Navy or the sailors.
• Sparrow tattoos are also made as memorials to a dead loved one. This concept was popular in the ancient Egyptian culture, but, is prevalent even today.
• Although modest and plain, it is considered as one of the most intelligent birds and are used as tattoo designs to symbolize wisdom.
• Similar to any other bird, a sparrow also stands for freedom due to its free spirit.
• You may not be aware but there are also religious and spiritual meanings associated with the sparrow tattoo. The sparrow symbolizes God's grace and care for each and every living being in the world.
• Although these birds do not symbolize love, these tattoos are made by those who have found a true love in life. Permanence in love is also one of the meaning of sparrow tattoo.
• Lastly, one of the most interesting sparrow tattoo meaning is loyalty. It is believed that when these birds mate, it is for the entire life and hence, they symbolize loyalty and permanence in life.

Sparrow Tattoo Designs

With so many symbolic sparrow tattoo meanings, one is sure to think of getting this tattoo done on your body. There are several interesting sparrow tattoo designs to choose from. You can either have a single sparrow perched on a branch or a pair of it flying together. Sparrow tattoos need not necessarily be in black and brown color. You can also make it in other colorful tones like blue, red, golden, etc. The Celtic sparrow tattoo is also favored by many people these days. On the other hand, if you are looking for an elaborate design, you can have other abstract art, branches, leaves, etc. made along with the sparrow. Peculiarly, one of the other images that may also pop in the mind when talking of sparrow tattoos is that of Jack Sparrow of the 'Pirates of Caribbean' series. However, you should remember that it requires a lot of skill to make this tattoo (as it should appear similar to Johnny Depp). There is no known dead sparrow tattoo meaning, but this design is also popular among some people.

So, as a summation of the above, we conclude that nautical, wisdom, religious, love, loyalty, memorial, etc. are some of the popular sparrow tattoo meaning. You may also look for some other meaning of sparrow tattoo which may inspire you to make this tattoo. Lastly, note that tattoos should only be made by adults, and that too, from a certified professional artist. Good luck!