Heritage Tattoos and Cultural Expression

Thursday 02nd of April 2009 10:22:53 AM [Add To This Article]

People get tattoos for many reasons, and lots of those reasons have to do with expressing a feeling that they have inside visually on the outside. As a result of this, many tattoos are designed to either alter the way you perceive someone or to give a viewer a hint about something that is important to the person who has the tattoo. They can be designed to make a statement or to elicit curiosity from onlookers. One of the most popular types of “display” tattoo is a heritage tattoo. These tattoos are simultaneously a public expression of pride and a deeply personal testament to one’s personal views and cultural heritage.

Heritage tattoos take many forms. Probably the most popular type of heritage tattoo contains elements of Celtic knot work or other Celtic images. This is because a large number of people identify with the struggles and the history of the Celtic people, who are today’s Irishmen, Scotsmen and Welsh. These cultures are fiercely proud and steeped in tradition, and even people who are just barely Irish, Scottish or Welsh (or even not at all) enjoy hanging onto that single drop of Celtic blood. These cultures were known in the past for their fierceness, their learning – Celtic druids were often brought into high class Roman households to teach the children there despite the fact that their cultures in general were considered by ancient Romans to be “savage” – and are also currently well known for their trademark “devil-may-care” attitude and devotion to blunt honestly and an all round good time. Of course, people also enjoy trying to snag a little “luck of the Irish” for themselves by getting shamrock tattoos or four leaf clover tattoos. Celtic heritage tattoos, however, can be made much more personal by working Celtic knot work, such as the intricate designs found on ancient Celtic crosses, into the tattoo. Then, over the knot work or worked into the design itself, a person may place meaningful images such as a red dragon, a family crest or the Scottish blooming thistle in order to indicate what branch of Celtic heritage they identify with.

Of course, Celtic descendents are not the only people getting tattoos to celebrate their heritage. Far from it! Many people cherish their historic family coat of arms, and often get the arms and the motto tattooed on their bodies. If you do not know what your family’s coat of arms looks like, then you can often find out online, or you can make your own and use your heritage tattoo to found a new family tradition. Flag tattoos also fall in this category, as many people get the flags of their ancestors tattooed on their bodies in order to commemorate a brave or proud family history. Mexican flag tattoos, Cuban flag tattoos and African flag tattoos are all quite common. When it comes to flag tattoos and heritage, one cannot overlook one of the most predominantly tattooed – and most controversial – flags today: the confederate flag. Particularly popular with Southerners, the confederate flag stands for many things to many different people. For some, it represents a way of life that died with the end of slavery, and these people often display their confederate flag tattoos aggressively in order to make sure that everyone knows how they feel about the outcome of the Civil War. On the other hand, other people simply cherish the confederate flag as a symbol of the bravery of the soldiers on both sides of the war, and to commemorate their ancestors’ role in it. The confederate flag may be accompanied with slogans like “The South Will Never Die.”

Many people design their own heritage tattoos from a conglomeration of the things about themselves and their cultural heritage that make them proudest. They may include tribal art tattoos, African tribal art tattoos, meaningful images from family stories or even portrait tattoos of ancestors or more recent relatives. Heritage tattoos often incorporate religious or spiritual aspects as well, even if the person getting the tattoo is not particularly inclined to either. For example, people who have a strong Catholic heritage may get a saint tattooed on their body even though they do not regularly attend church. The saint tattoo is more art than religious statement, and it is used to emphasize the cultural aspects of Catholicism rather than the religious ones.

Getting a heritage tattoo is a deeply personal experience, and you should do plenty of research before selecting a tattoo. Even if you opt for a custom heritage tattoo, you still should bring in images for your tattoo artist to use as a guide and a formula. For example, if you want  a personal coat of arms, you might bring in several aspects of your coat of arms that the artist can use to design your custom tattoo. You need to present clear images of what styles and contents you want your heritage tattoo to include so that you can be certain that it will remain a proud symbol of your family and your culture for the rest of your life.

Related Tattoo Wiki Articles

Learn more about Celtic knots and heritage

Check out religious tattoos and tattoo designs

Learn more about popular Irish tattoos

Helpful Web Pages from http://www.TattooJohnny.com

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