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Dragons are a classic choice for a tattoo design. They are more popular then many other mythological creatures including mermaids, griffons, and fairy tattoos. Dragons are depicted as powerful and free. Their legend is always cloaked in magic and mystery. They come from the tops of japanese mountains and the bottom of the deepest oceans. Dragons are usually portrayed as highly intelligent and evolved creatures.

Because of their ferocious appeal, dragons have been depicted by artists throughout history in a wide variety of forms. Todays tattoo designers and illustrators have taken the art of the dragon to amazing new levels. Whether you want a traditional dragon tattoos or one with a cutting edge modern look you will find an incredible gallery of amazing images to choose from. Tattoo artists have paid special attention to creating images of dragons because they look great on the skin. In color or in black and white, dragons can wrap around the body and flatter the contours of the body. Dragons can be depicted as tribal, celtic or jade designs. Etched in black, red or blue a tribal dragon is a strong bold image. When designed carefully, a celtic dragon adds distinct touch to any tattoo collection. Dragon tattoos can go from one part of the body to another for a unifying effect on a large body design. Elaborate, bestial, beautiful or bizarre, the dragon tattoos may appear with wings or without, fire-breathing or not. For those of you who hear the dragon tattoo beckon, their diversity in form offers up a unique selection that will continue to inspire.

The History of the Dragon in mythology and design.

The word Dragon is derived from the Greek drakon and is connected to derkomai, indicating it is a seeing serpent with a gaze like lightning. The English term, drake or fire drake comes from the Anglo Saxon draca, or the Latin draco, which is similar to the flying dragon.

The many depictions of dragons is incredibly diverse and complex. No other creature in mythology has appeared in so many cultures from such remote parts of the world. While many of us conjure up a terrifying beast when envisioning a dragon, the Oriental or Asian dragon is depicted as a graceful, flowing beast, as it glides effortlessly through the air. The Chinese dragon is rendered as a long and serpent-like creature without wings. They are seen as ancient and intelligent creatures. European and medieval dragons have a more ferocious and primitive appearance. They often look more lizard-like with long tails and wings. While they to are often seen as intelligent creatures, they sometimes can be portrayed as mindless brutes. Talons, fangs, fire, scaled skins, and red eyes are typical of the dragon images we see in art and have come to imagine.

Dragon Symbolism, Mythology & Folklore

Dragons as Creator, Sustainer and Destroyer. The Australian Aboriginal Rainbow Serpent has appeared in art as far back as 6000 years. Attributed with the creation of the earth from the void and the human creation, Rainbow Serpent continues to play a role in Aboriginal culture and art. Aido-Hwedo, the African creator snake purportedly created the rivers and streams with his serpentine coils, and the mountain peaks with his excrement. Numerous other dragons are present in creation lore and have inspired writers, artists and travelers from Leonardo Da Vinci to Marco Polo. The dragon is credited with the creation, maintenance, and the destruction of the earth. War and pestilence are familiar territory for the dragon.

Dragons as Sentinel and Protector. Dragons are associated with the dead in Scandinavian myth and in England, they were believed to have guarded over graves. In the West, dragons were viewed as fire-breathing sentinels who guarded treasure, and their fiery red eyes were said to reflect those treasures.

Dragons as Divine, Spiritual and Mystical. Revered by many, despised and feared by others, the dragon was said to exist some place between the demon and the Devil in the Christian faith, but in the East, the dragon was a benevolent son of heaven, and controlled the elements of air, water and fire.

Dragons as Bringers of death with Fiery Tempers. Dragons are frequently portrayed as bringers of death. The black dragon Nidhog (corpse-tearer) had an impact on that judgment. Said to bring destruction through their fiery tempers, immense size, and magical abilities, dragons are allegedly accountable for many tragedies at sea and on land.

Dragons as Rulers of the Elements. With power over fire, rain, and the earth, as well as enemy of the sun and moon, dragons have strong ties to each of the elements. In China, four main Dragon-like beings or Lun-Wang dragons were believed to live in a Crystal Palace in one of the universal seas. Thought to bring rain, even flooding upon the land by both the Chinese and the Norse, many myths represent the dragon near water and forested areas. In both Eastern and Western mythology, the dragon is believed to be responsible for eclipses.

Dragon tattoos can represent greed. The dragons have been noted as the king of bringing out the worst in humankinds nature, in particular greed. Dragons are known for hoarding wealth and often will capture a beautiful maiden.

Dragon Tattoo Designs Representing Physical Prowess and Protection. In Greek mythology, the dragon protects the spring of Ares (god of war). The first emperor of China, Shi Huangdi, took the dragon as an emblem of his power. Some believed dragons to be the ancestors of ancient emperors.

These are but a few of the hundreds of mythological sightings and significations of the dragon tattoo design. In short, dragons never die. They live on in our myths from one culture and generation to the next, leaving intrigue in their wake. From the underwater Loch Ness Monster to the serpentine entity Charlie, spotted from time to time in the Payette Lakes of North Idaho, there continue to be hundreds of miscellaneous sightings of strange dragon-like creatures throughout the world. Real or imagined, there is no denying their impact!

The choice for a dragon tattoo makes a particularly powerful personal statement, and the choices in design are rich with diversity. Whether depicted in black and white or boldly emblazoned with color, the dragon can serve as guardian or destroyer and will likely never lose appeal.

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Not all girls want girly tattoos. In fact, just calling a tattoo girly can be enough to make a woman who loves that tattoo design think twice about getting it. While men and women enjoy the benefits and pleasures of classic tattoo motivations such as memorial tattoos, military tattoos, biker tattoos and a variety of animal tattoo designs and botanical tattoo designs, the same tattoo design can look completely different on a woman than it does on a man. 

If you want to make sure that your tattoo design fits you perfectly, then it may pay off to make that tattoo design somewhat gender specific. While you do not have to forgo any tattoo design that makes you happy, making it fit your skin tone and your body shape can dramatically enhance your tattoo and take it from a work of art to being a truly living and breathing part of the story of your body and your life. 

Feminine tattoo designs tend to work with the lines of the female body. Sometimes this has to do with tattoo placement, and sometimes it has to do with the way that the design fits the area of the body. For example, masculine tattoos tend to run parallel to the lines of the body, such as tribal tattoos like armbands that can emphasize the size of the biceps or the calf muscles. However, feminine tattoos are generally placed to elongate the body, such as climbing vines, fairies with extended wings or flying butterflies. Even more abstract feminine tattoos, such as tribal art, still tend to be more stretched vertically than horizontally so that the tattoo appears to flow with the body. Rounder and more horizontal tattoos are often placed in areas that end in a point, such as at the small of the back or near the center of the pelvic region, or in areas that might be enhanced by appearing broader, such as the shoulders or the nape of the neck. 

While placement can play a major part in how feminine a tattoo design appears, the biggest distinction between distinctly male and distinctly female tattoos is almost always in the color palate. Feminine tattoos, even when they are identical in design to masculine tattoos, tend to have a softer color palette. They may contain brighter and more blended colors, and tend to be far less blocky and contain much less black than masculine versions of the same design. Furthermore, feminine tattoo designs are often drawn with the intent of having only thin lines separating the details or using only color to distinguish one area of the design from another. Tattoo artists who specialize in feminine tattoo designs and feminine tattoo imagery are often able to create incredibly realistic designs largely because they have learned to tattoo without the black lines. If you want a particularly feminine tattoo, it is wise to have a stencil and a color guide with you when you go to get your tattoo so that the artist can use these as a guide and will not have to rely as much on the black outlines that characterize many tattoo designs. 

There are many types of tattoo design that are distinctly feminine regardless of how they are portrayed. For example, many women get the female sign, a circle with a cross extending from the bottom of the circle, to represent their pride in being a woman, their faith in the women's movement or just the importance of womanhood to themselves and to society and culture. Getting the female sign tattooed on your body is a wonderful way to fully accept yourself and your strengths as a woman. It is nearly always a feminine tattoo, but there are men who also get this tattoo to express their love for women's physical or emotional or who are conflicted about their gender identity. However, the female sign tattoo design is nearly always the undisputed territory of proud tattooed women. Another common theme in feminine tattoos is the popularity of symbolic scripts. In the past decade, using Chinese symbols to indicate traits of value has become popular with both genders. Feminine versions of this trend tend to have more ornate lettering or additional decoration accompanying the symbol itself. As Chinese symbols have become nearly ubiquitous (and as many celebrities, such as Britney Spears, have been snared into getting symbols that ultimately do not mean quite what they thought they did, raising the profile of Chinese symbol tattoos in a somewhat negative manner), many tattoo aficionados have moved on to other symbolic scripts, such as Tibetan or Polynesian symbol tattoos. 

If you are a woman considering getting a tattoo, there is no reason to restrict yourself to feminine tattoo designs. However, if you are having trouble deciding what tattoo design you want or where to get your tattoo, then factoring in various attributes of typically feminine tattoo design may help you make your decision.

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Coffin Tattoos are reminders of our mortality and the briefness of life. Death is an inevitable fate. Coffins also play a large part in vampire culture. It is the resting place for the undead while they wait out the sun's journey across the sky. Many coffin tattoos also incorporate vampire and gothic images as well as bats or bat wings.

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Compass tattoos are popular in sailor culture. Like the nautical star, the compass symbolizes the sailor's ability to find his way back to safety after being away a sea. Unlike today's water travelers, early sailors had only their wits and their compass to guide them through unchartered waters and unknown dangers. For those not into sailor or maritime culture, the compass tattoo can either symbolize that you are lost in your life or have finally found your way.

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