Throughout time we have associated tattoos and sailors. These tattoos are usually of the nautical them and revolve around the ocean. This makes sense as these sailors would spend much of their time at sea. They may have gotten these tattoos to symbolize things they are going through or they might have gotten them out of sheer boredom. Whatever the case may be, there are a variety of nautical tattoos that have their own meaning.

The nautical tattoo tells a story. For the man that rides the rough seas, the nautical tattoo is a way to let the world know of your story. However, many don’t understand what these symbols mean and that is why we are hear today. For those that have nautical tattoos that don’t want to explain what they mean to everyone, we are here to help.

In this post, we are going to talk about the nautical tattoo and this history behind them. Since there are so many symbols that represent the nautical tattoo, we will talk about the different variations and what they mean. By the end of this post, we hope you have a better understanding of some of the different symbols in the nautical tattoo realm and what they mean. Maybe it will help you make a decision for your own tattoo.

Nautical Tattoo History

Also known as sailor tattoos, nautical tattooing is a style of tattooing that traditionally gotten by men that sail for a living. They might be referred to as “Old School” tattoos or Sailor Jerry tattoos as well. You would see images associated with the ocean like ships, mermaids and compasses for example. During the early to mid twentieth century, Sailor Jerry was know for his style of work. This style of tattooing went dark for a while and people weren’t getting them as much recently, young and old are getting these nautical tattoos once again. It doesn’t matter if you sail or not, these tattoos look great.