Eagle Tattoos and Tattoo Designs - Symbolism and Meaning

Thursday 29th of January 2009 01:55:09 PM [Add To This Article]

Eagle Tattoo Designs:
A Quick Flight Through the Influence of the Eagle on Myth, History and Art

"The Eagle wasn't always the Eagle. The Eagle, before he became the Eagle, was Yucatangee, the Talker. Yucatangee talked and talked. It talked so much it heard only itself. Not the river, not the wind, not even the Wolf. The Raven came and said The Wolf is hungry. If you stop talking, you'll hear him. The wind too. And when you hear the wind, you'll fly.'
So, he stopped talking. And became its nature, the Eagle. The Eagle soared and its flight said all it needed to say."
Robin Green and Mitchell Burgess
(Northern Exposure, Birds of a Feather 1993)

What makes eagle tattoo designs so popular? So many different people, of so many different walks of life share this simple image between them each with its own meaning and significance. Patriots and tyrants both use it as their banner. Motorcycle gangs and veterans wear it as a badge. Native Americans and modern Americans share it as a totem. As a tattoo, it flashes wings and silver eyes from flexing arms. You can find it screaming in flight across chests and backs. Men and women, young and old- the eagle is shared by many.

But the question remains, "Why?"

The Eagle In Myth and Legend
The eagle has featured in literature for millennia, appearing in myths, legends, scripture and commentary throughout time. Each culture has chosen to depict the eagle in its own unique way.

The eagle crosses the paths of many of the world's ancient mythologies. It was sacred to Odin, the supreme Norse god. It was sacred to the Greek god Zeus and to his Roman counterpart, Jupiter. In Hindu myth the eagle was one of four of Vishnu's modes of transportation. It was the bird of the storm-cloud and lightning to the Native Americans. It was their Thunderbird - a divine creature living above the clouds, always beyond their reach. When it came to the Celts, the eagle was thought to be among the oldest of animals. And for the Americans, well the eagle - the bald eagle - is the national symbol.

The Eagle In Judeo-Christian Writings
The eagle was referred to numerous times in the Bible, in both the Old Testament and the New. As a matter of fact, attributes of the eagle were often used to try to explain the infinite wonders and personality of God into concepts humans could understand. A few of the more popular Biblical verses referring to the eagle include:

In Leviticus 11:13, Moses forbade the people from eating the meat or eggs of an eagle.
In Deuteronomy 32:11, it describes God's love for Jacob... "He was like an eagle hovering over its nest, overshadowing its young- then spreading its wings, lifting them into the air, teaching them to fly."
It also appears in the New Testament work of Revelations. In Revelations 12:14 it says "And to the woman there was given two wings of a great eagle so that she might fly into the wilderness, into her place, where she is nourished for a time."

The great Christian saint, St. Augustine was quoted as saying "The sun invigorates the eyes of eagles, but injures our own". When he said it, he was referring to a generally accepted belief that the eagle was the sole animal which was able to look directly into the sun.

Greek and Roman Mythology & The Eagle
In the Greek myth of Prometheus, this god (who had existence reached back to the time before Zeus's reign) was punished severely by Zeus for giving man the power of fire. Part of his punishment was to be chained to a mountain to be slowly devoured by Zeus's eagle. But, being a god, each day as the frost set in, his body would regenerate and be eaten yet again. This existed until many, many years later, when he was freed by Hercules.

The Sphinx of Greek mythology was also related to the eagle, in the respect that her wings were similar to those of an eagle.

Another mythical beast of Greek myth was the griffin, an eagle that had the body of a lion.

There were even instances when Zeus, the chief god of Olympus, would take on the form of a great, formidable eagle to accomplish his goals (for instance, his capture of the handsome youth Ganymede).

But the eagle legend doesn't stop here.

Eagles in Asian Mythology
In the land of Azerbaijan, there is an ancient myth about an eagle-like bird known as the simurg. "Simurg" is an ancient symbol of goodness and rebirth in Azerbaijan mythology. The symbol of the Simurg is closely associated with ancient European-Asian myth about an eagle like bird which for the first time brought to Earth the sprout of the "tree of life" from either the sky or the sacred mountain. The Simurg is one of the semantic synonyms of eight tip star - an ancient symbol of goodwill of gods and prosperity of country accepted both in East and in West as a universal symbol of the new eternal life.
In Hindu myth, the eagle was one of the solar mounts that the god Vishnu would ride upon at will. Great and giant, this eagles name was Garuda.
The Eagle in the Americas
The people of ancient Mexico depicted their sun god, Tonatiuh as the Divine Eagle. In this form, we see him diving below the horizon, surrounded by skulls down into the dark underworld which is his lair each night. While his face has a sacrificial knife for a tongue, some depictions show him with the symbol for earthquake imprinted on his back. The Mexicans believed that the present world would end in earthquakes with the sun destroyed, a sentiment echoed by many other religions.

The Navaho tribe had a myth that told how eagles originated. It all started when a warrior, Nayenezgani, destroyed a monster which lived at Wing Rock. When his task was finished, he turned to the beast's offspring, who were now all alone in their nest. Not wanting to kill them, or allow them to grow up evil, he turned the youngest into an owl and the oldest into an eagle. Both of which would be a source of feathers for ceremonial rites and their bones would become whistles.

The Pawnee Indians believed that the eagle was a symbol of fertility. They reached this conclusion because the eagles would build large nests high off of the ground and valiantly protect their young. This tribe honored the eagle with songs, chants, and dance.

The Aztecs (and related local tribes that established themselves in the valleys of Mexico) revered the eagle as an incredibly strong symbol, and the feathers of an eagle were only allowed to be used by the society's most elite members.

The Eagle A National Symbol
Today in America, the eagle has become the very symbol of our nation. It appears on our coinage, seals and in association with our government and national defense. The majesty of the bald eagle has captured the attention of our nation as a whole, and on the more personal individual level in the form of protecting the species.

America has also chosen to honor the eagle with several commemorative tattoos, in one of several different forms. Eagle tattoo designs exist featuring the eyes of the eagle, the head and beak of the eagle, or the eagle in full-form flight. Eagles also appear in tattoos guarding their towering nests from the dangerous world below. Patriots bear the eagle and the American flag. There are tribal eagles, Celtic eagles, and mythical eagle designs.

Whatever final design you chose, you're sure to be able to find one that's just for you. That's what happens when the eagle gets its talons tangled with your soul.