Anchor tattoos were all the rage for sailors. It was often the
symbol of a very experienced sailor. Anchor tattoo designs are
one of the oldest types of tattoos. However with an interest in
all things retro and chic these have come back into fashion. In
fact in the tattoo field as a whole retro tattoo designs have
been experiencing a resurgence. These retro tattoo designs have
come back to life with new more vibrant tattoo colors, designs
and placements on the body. This trend originated on the west
coast mostly and has even become known as west coast tattoo
style. Retro themes in tattoo designs are especially popular
with the rockabilly group.
So what is the symbolism behind the anchor tattoo design? While
the earliest forms of an anchor being used as a symbol harkens
all the way back to the early Christians. They would often use
the anchor as a hidden symbol for the cross. This was often used
to show that they were Christian while escaping persecution from
the Greeks.
The symbol much later became popular with sailors. This is a
pretty obvious connection here being that sailor use anchors
constantly in their work.
The anchor tattoo design has become a symbol for stability and a
strong foundation. It can also mean a boyfriend, girlfriend or
significant other in someone's life. You see a man might get an
anchor tattoo to show that his girlfriend is the stability in
his life. These have become increasingly popular for women to
get and they often place them just below their collar bone on
the right of left side.
So the anchor tattoo is a great tattoo with lots of symbolism
and history behind it. If you are looking for something to
remind you to stay grounded or want to symbolism a particularly
stable or grounding relationship that you have then an anchor
tattoo design might be something to look into.