At some point, Celts were the major ethnicity in Europe. However, their descendants can only be found in Scotland, Ireland, and the surrounding lands today. The Celtic people had a rich culture and practiced paganism. They also used knots, and various other symbols to communicate. Now, these symbols are proudly presented in tattoos, but not many people know what they mean.

A lot of belief stems around the Celtic people but most of it surrounds their knots and other symbols that were preserved in the culture. In this article, we’ll talk about whether the Celts did ink their bodies, and what do the symbols they used mean, and how they can be used in the tattoos.

Celtic People And Tattoos

A lot of people wonder whether Celts tattooed different symbols from their culture into their bodies. Some historians claim that the Celtic tattoos were never a thing and that the tattoos came to Scotland and Ireland only in the last century. But, this claim may not apply the same for all the aspects of Celtic tattooing.

A lot of other sources suggest that the Celts, particularly Celtic warriors used to tattoo their bodies with different Celtic symbols. Nevertheless, the most prominent symbol is the knot tattoos. A lot of legends suggest that Celts used to make knots out of tree branches and communicate with their kind this way. They placed the knots made out of wood on trees in the forest to pave the way for those who wanted to join them.

Tattoos, made out of woad plant, and other powder derived from the trees would serve Celts multiple purposes. However, the most prominent purpose was protection and some way of scaring their enemies with the colors on their faces and bodies.

Some clues hint that the woad plant didn’t serve just as the tattoo, but rather the body paint, suggesting that there were also other materials that Celts used for tattooing. Some of those materials included copper and iron-based powder which helped them ink their face and body skin.