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Flags have always been a very public way to declare how what people stand for, what they believe, their allegiances and their current sentiments. It is natural, then, that flag tattoos would also follow as a way for people to celebrate their loyalties, their heritage and their beliefs. Flag tattoos come in a vast array of colors and styles, and they can be manipulated in a variety of ways to express many sentiments. Just as seafaring vessels use a variety of flags to signal how things are faring aboard the vessel, people around the world use flag tattoo designs to express how things are faring with and for them throughout their lives.

Probably the most popular type of flag tattoo is one that indicates love of country. In the United States, the American Flag flies proudly on many, many American men and women who have gotten their own personal version of the flag to express their personal pride in their country and their patriotism in a public way. Patriotic tattoos incorporating the American flag have always been extremely popular, but in the aftermath of 9/11, their popularity and visibility soared in surprising ways as people who heretofore would not have displayed any type of ink openly proudly bore American flag tattoos on prominent positions on their bodies regardless of their professional status. American flag tattoos are also extremely common among military men and women and the families of those who serve in the armed forces. For Americans, an American flag tattoo is one of the best and boldest ways to declare one's support and love for one's country and the ideals that it stands for. Interestingly, patriotic tattoo designs implement the American flag in a number of ways. Of course, the flag can fly proudly, but it also can enshroud a brave soldier, peer out from behind the skin of a brave warrior (see illustration) or be used in a variety of decorative ways to supplement and accent other tattoo designs. 

Naturally, people with nationalities other than American citizens also enjoy sporting their native lands flag, and many other nations are just as patriotic as Americans when it comes to pride in their country and their heritage. Heritage tattoos also often incorporate flags of various nationalities, particularly when the owner of the tattoos has several different types of heritage. Particularly popular are Mexican flag tattoos, Irish flag tattoos, a variety of African flag tattoos and, in a category all their own, confederate flag tattoos. Often people incorporate their heritage based flag tattoos into coats of arms or other larger tattoo designs that illustrate many different aspects of the tattoo owner's heritage.

It is certainly not possible to discuss flag tattoos and flag tattoo designs without addressing confederate flag tattoos. These highly controversial and extremely popular flag tattoo designs express an aggressive pride in one's heritage while, at the same time, eliciting a potentially violent and inherently visceral response in many people who view these designs. Some people, Civil war buffs in particular, may get the confederate flag tattooed on their bodies as an expression of their interest in the American Civil War or as a commemorative tattoo for all the lives lost in the war. However, far more often, confederate flag tattoos are meant to commemorate the Southern way of life that many people in the southeastern United States mourn to this day. 
In an interesting subset of flag tattoo designs, NASCAR tattoos often incorporate racing flags, such as a green flag tattoo to indicate speed, a checkered flag tattoo to indicate passion and triumph and highly stylized and customized car number flag tattoos to indicate support for a favorite driver. Particularly following the highly publicized and traumatic death of Dale Earnhardt, Sr., the popularity of number 3 tattoos skyrocketed as race fans flocked to commemorate the NASCAR racing legend. Let's not forget the Jolly Roger which is the traditional English name for the flags flown to identify a pirate ship about to attack during the early 18th century.

Whether you get a flag tattoo to help you express your pride in your heritage or you just want to support your country and show your love in a visible way that does not require you to say anything and still lets people know how you feel, a flag tattoo may appear to be impersonal, but it is one of the most emotional tattoos many people will every get. Flag tattoo designs tend to involve pride, devotion and similar emotions, and a flag tattoo design will let everyone know just where your heart and your loyalty stand.

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Because the eight ball is the "money maker" and the winning shot, it is a popular symbol. Pool is a game just as much a game of chance as skill, and so the eight ball symbolizes risk and fate as well. The expression "behind the eight ball" refers to being in a strategically poor position on the pool table. When building customized race cars, the gear shift knob is often an eight ball. It can also mean being in a bad position in life as well. In drug terms, it is an extremely dangerous combination of cocaine or crack and heroin. It can also mean an ounce of any drug. 

Eight ball tattoos can be worn by those who are serious pool players. They also symbolize the wearer's willingness to take a chance or risk it all for good fortune. Eight ball tattoos are often incorporated with other signs of the "fast life", like fast women and cars or gambling motifs.

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Today, dreamcatchers are seen in jewelry and art not just in the Native American culture but all over the world. Dreamcatchers are handmade objects based on a willow hoop, on which a web or loose net is woven. Lastly the dreamcatcher is decorated with sacred items like feathers and beads. In tattoos culture, dreamcatcher tattoos can indicate that the wearer has some sort of Native American roots. It is also a powerful symbol of protection and ward off evil spirits and dreams.

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With traditions and myths starring colorful, captivating gods and goddesses who are half-human and half-animal, it's hard not to find yourself absorbed in the richness and wonder of it all. Add to that the paradoxical nature of this fertile desert region; with the view of towering pyramids in the distance and the opulence of the oasis paradise and the world of Egypt can have a nearly narcotic effect. Hieroglyphics spell out stories of the pharaohs and their trials, tribulations and endings. They whisper of the Book of the dead and the wisdom needed to complete your journey from life and into what comes next. Suddenly you find yourself face to face with a world populated by the Sphinx and the phoenix; the scarab and the long sinewy cat, under the backdrop of towering, menacing sarcophagi.

If you hear the din of haggling market vendors and your nose is assaulted by the sweat, the camels, and the food- if you can feel the hot sand through the sandals that cover your feet, you can already picture yourself here, it might just be time to consider getting an Egyptian tattoo design.

An Amazing Cast of Characters

Gods, goddesses and their human counterparts, the pharaohs, have a long, well documented history in the artwork of ancient Egypt. Because the Egyptian style of ink art is so captivating and vivid, and lends itself to being easily adapted to suit personal tastes, these same figures have a tendency to taking starring roles in the world of Egyptian tattoo design.

Some of the most common mythological and historical subjects are listed and introduced below.

• Isis. (Woman with a headdress in the shape of a temple) A protective goddess, married to Osiris and mother to Horus. She used her magical potions to help people.

• Osiris. (A mummified man wearing a white, cone-like headdress that is decorated with feathers) God of the dead and ruler of the underworld.

• Horus (the Hawk God, shown with a human body and a hawk head) His eye is also a popular image in Egyptian tattoo. Horus is the god of the sky.

• Bastet. (A woman with the head of a cat) Daughter of the sun god Ra, Bastet was a gentle healing and protective goddess whose symbol was the cat.

• Amun. (A man with a ram head; or a ram-man with an ostrich plumed headdress.) One of the most powerful of the Egyptian gods.

• Amun Ra. (Amun combined with the sun god) As this god, Amun Ra was the supremely powerful god of the Egyptian culture.

• Set(h). (Man with a head of an animal, a creature we don't recognize). Seth represented everything that threatened harmony in the land of Egypt.

• Cleopatra. (Famous for her affair with Mark Anthony)

• Ramses I and II.

• Tutankhamen. (the boy king)

• Akhenaton.

There were also the wonderful mythical (and real) creatures of the Egyptian culture that would shape their art, and through that, modern tattoo designs based on ancient Egyptian designs.

Such symbols that have inspired modern Egyptian tattoo designs include: hieroglyphics (the pictographic language of the Egyptians), sphinxes (creatures with a lions body and a human head, but also include creatures with a ram or hawk head on a lion's body), phoenixes (birdlike creatures, sometimes with human qualities that represented regeneration due to their constant cycle of death and rebirth)

Other popular images in the world of Egyptian tattoo design are those derived from the magical amulets of the Egyptian religion. This included ankhs (an ancient symbol for both physical and eternal life), the eye of Horus, cobras, pillars and other interesting objects.

 The History of Tattoo in Ancient Egypt

One of the most famous surviving artifacts that testify to the practice of tattooing in ancient Egyptian culture is the mummy of Amunet. This woman was a priestess of the goddess Hathor (the goddess of joy, motherhood, love, music and dancing) and was discovered in Thebes. Her remains display several intricate lines and dots tattooed on her body in a common religious design. In fact, it would be from Egypt that the art of tattooing would travel across the world to appear, disappear and reappear throughout recorded history.

Today, tattoos are incredibly popular among the Western cultures, but are frowned upon largely in Egypt because the practice is avoided by Muslims.

Regardless of where you go looking for them, it won't be too long before you find an Egyptian style tattoo design. Whether you find a woman with the eye of Horus decorating her shoulder or a man with a scarab beetle scuttling across his back, much like the ancient artifacts that witness to their power across the ages, modern Egyptian tattoos are just waiting to be unearthed and understood.

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