From movies and TV shows to our family and friends; we learned a long time ago that handshake was a symbol of peace and friendship. I’m sure we can all remember times when we were excited and shook our friends hand (or gave them a high five) to show our satisfaction of a situation. You watched business men make a deal in the movies and shake on it. The handshake used to be your word of honor. It might not be as rigid of a meaning today, but many people still believe in the power of a handshake. The handshake is a powerful symbol. So much so that we see many people get it tattooed on their body. Whether it’s tattoo filler or the main focus, the handshake tattoo has been around for a long time.

We usually associated good things with the handshake, but we often see symbols, especially in tattooing, that make us realize that not all handshakes are of the positive sort or have happy meanings. Depending on what the tattoo is depicting; it might change the feeling of the image.

In this post we are going to talk about the relevance of the handshake and why people started doing it. Then we will move into the symbolic meaning of the handshake tattoo and what it means to those that have it inked on their body. The variation of the handshake tattoo tells a story that might only be answered by the person with the tattoo. However, we are going to give it a whirl and we hope you feel more informed on the subject afterwards.

History of Handshakes

A handshake is a ritual in which two people clasp their hands together and briefly move them up and down. There are different customs with handshakes depending on the culture. Some may participate in the act more than others.

The ancient Greeks partook in handshaking and we saw evidence of this act going all the way back to the 5th century BC. There is a depiction of two soldiers shaking hands on a funerary stele in the Pergamon Museum.