The cobra is a universally known animal that induces feeling of uncertainty and fear. The vision of seeing the cobra standing at attention with it’s hood open is something that nightmares are made of. However, this has never stopped anyone from getting a cobra tattoo and trying to invoke some of the powerful traits this animal symbolizes.

This serpent is known to be one of the most dangerous in the snake family. The cobra has long been a symbol of leaders and spiritual types. It is the type of animal that is such a strong symbol that many cultures use it for different reason.

In this post we will talk about the cobra and what it symbolizes. Depending on where you are in the world, the cobra represents different traits. We plan to go over some variations of the cobra and talk about what it means in different regions of the world. By the end of this post we hope you have a better understanding of what the cobra symbolizes and why it is such a popular subject for a tattoo.

About the Cobra

With it’s intimidating upright posture and threatening hood, the cobra is one of the most recognizable snake in the world. They are a prideful and elegant animal and with their venomous bite, they’ve earned the respect and fear of almost everything on this planet.

Cobras inhabit most of Africa, the Middle East, Indonesia, Southeast Asia and India. The word cobra comes from the Portuguese word ‘cobra de capello’ which translates to “hooded snake.”

There is still some debate on what a cobra is exactly. Depending on how it is defined, there are between 28 and 270 cobra species. True cobras are part of the Naja genus but the name ‘cobra’ refers to many different species of snake and most of these are venomous members of the Elapidae family. Other snakes in this family include mambas, coral snakes and kraits. These snakes either have the ability stand at attention or have a hood.