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Koi (more specifically, ''nishikigoi'') are ornamental domesticated varieties of the common carp. The word ''"koi"'' comes from Japanese, simply means ''"carp."'' It includes both the dull grey fish and the brightly colored varieties. The common carp is widely believed to have originated from the Caspian Sea with natural habitat surrounding the North, Baltic, Mediterranean, Black, Azov, Caspian and Aral Sea basins. The common carp, as a food fish with the ability to survive and adapt to many different climates and waterways, was bartered and spread to many different areas, including North America, Africa, Europe, and Asia. 

Koi breeding originated in 18th century Japan. Farmers working the rice fields would notice that some carp were more brightly colored the other ones, capture them, and raise them. The outside world did not become aware of the degree of development until 1914, when the koi were exhibited in the annual exposition in Tokyo. At that point, interest in koi exploded throughout Japan. The hobby of keeping koi spread worldwide after plastic bags and shipping of koi became both fast and safe for the fish. These factors enabled koi to be shipped worldwide with low mortality rates. Koi are now commonly sold in most pet stores, with higher-quality fish available from specialist dealers. 

Koi can live for decades. One famous scarlet koi, named "Hanako" was owned by several individuals and was reportedly 226 years old upon her death. Her age was determined by removing one of her scales and examining it extensively in 1966. She is the longest-lived koi fish ever recorded.

In Japan and China, the koi has long been a symbol of masculinity and strength. Legends tell of it leaping up the falls at Dragon Gate on the Yellow River in China. In the process, it transformed into a dragon, proof of its successful struggle against the long odds. If caught, the koi is said to await the cutting knife without a quiver, in the manner of the Samurai warrior facing the sword. In Buddhism, the koi represents fearlessness and courage on its journey through the ocean, a reminder of human suffering through our own life's journey.

In Japan, the koi would appear on a young man's forearm or leg. As he continued his life's journey, he might eventually earn a dragon for his final back piece, echoing the legend of the leaping koi transforming into a dragon at Dragon Gate. Coloring, whiskers, scaling and special marks represent a range of qualities a young man might wish for in his life. For personal greatness and national pride, a white koi with a single red spot on the head would be the chosen design.

Half Sleeve Koi Tattoo Designs

Black & Gray Koi Tattoo Designs

Colorful Koi Tattoo Designs

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Ivy (also known as ''Hedera'') encompasses about fifteen species of climbing or creeping evergreen woody plants. When exposed to the right kinds of surfaces, ivies are able to climb at least 75 to 90 feet. The flowers, fruit and seeds of ivy are very important food sources to birds but usually poisonous to humans. Interesting fact: the plant commonly called ''poison ivy'' is not really ivy at all.

Bacchus, the Roman god of wine and revelry (known to the Greeks as Dionysius), wore the crown of the evergreen Ivy as the symbol of immortality. The ancient Egyptian's sun god, Osiris, was represented as carrying a rod entwined with Ivy at all times. In old Ireland, the Celts regarded the Ivy as a symbol of determination, death, and spiritual growth. When portrayed with its spiral growth around a tree it represented rebirth, joy and exhilaration. The power of the Ivy to cling and bind and even kill the mighty oak impressed the ancient Druids. In respect of Ivy's strength, they and other Pagan cultures used it in sacred rituals. As an evergreen plant, it became a symbol of everlasting life, and Irish poets traditionally wore crowns of ivy.

Christian artists have used ivy as a symbol of the Resurrection. It represented the ascension of the spirit to the Divine. Earlier, the Christian church rejected both the Ivy and Vine as pagan symbols. They were being used in the Roman Saturnalia celebrations of winter, during which the god's staff was made of Holly and his sacred bird was said to nest in Ivy. Centuries later, the Holly and the Ivy became inseparable as Christmas plants, their Pagan connections forgotten.

In times past, lovers took the Ivy to be the symbol of their fidelity. Brides carried it in their wedding bouquets, while women wore it for fertility and good luck. Perhaps this came from ivy's reputation for multiplying in the toughest conditions, growing even in near dark. In Victorian times, the Ivy was a symbol of wedded love and friendship in matrimony.

Because of their shape and form, vines of all kinds have been popular with tattoo artist for their ability to be draped, twisted and coiled on the human body. Ivy tattoos can be flourishing on another tattoo or a whole tattoo in itself. It is often intertwined with other floral designs.

Ivy & Vine Tattoo Designs

Ivy & Vine Flower Tattoo Designs

Ivy & Vine Butterfly Tattoo Designs

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The Grim Reaper is the personification of the word death. He is shown as a skeletal figure covered in a large black hood and gown and carrying a large scythe. Usually his face can't be seen and shrouded in shadows. Some say that Grim Reaper actually causes his victim's death with trickery or bribery. Other tales show the Reaper as having no control of the actual death. He is only the messenger and the one who leads the person to the next world. 

The Grim Reaper is a potent symbol of death and tattoos that incorporate him are all about death. Sometimes a grim reaper tattoo is more symbolic of life and how little time we each have to live before it is our time to die. The scythe symbolizes the way Death "harvests" the souls of the doom.

Although the Grim Reaper may sometimes be pictured with symbols related to Hell or the Devil, he is a separate entity and has no control over where the soul comes to rest.

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Hummingbirds have made scattered appearance is mythology. The Aztecs had a god Huitzilopochtli that was often depicted as a hummingbird. The northern Paiute Indians say that Hummingbird once filled his pants full of seeds and started on a journey to see what was beyond the sun. He ate only one seed a day, but had to turn back because his food gave out. He didn't see anything. In eastern Brazil, Hummingbird is the character who hoarded water so that the people had none at all until the Caingang and Botocudo Indians released it. 

Trinidad and Tobago is known as the land of the hummingbird. The country displays a hummingbird on its national coat of arms and the 1-cent coin. Its national airline, ''Caribbean Airlines'' also carries the hummingbird as its logo.

Hummingbird tattoos represent agility and strength, as well as the miracle of flight. Hummingbird tattoo wearers may be from the nation of Trinidad and Tobago or simply admire the speed of the world's smallest bird.

Color Hummingbird Tattoo Designs

Black & Gray Hummingbird Tattoo Designs

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