Chances are you’ve seen plenty of Samoan tattoos, and chances are you thought they looked great but weren’t sure what they meant. Well, you’re certainly not alone in that since most Samoan tattoo meanings aren’t obvious like many of the other tattoo designs out there. The fact is that every line and symbol uses in Samoan tattoos have very deep meanings that have been around for pretty much as long as the Samoan people have been around. Below you will find some of those Samoan tattoo meanings so you can see if they might work for you.

Tattooing is an integral facet of the Samoan culture and marks significant individuals as worthy of respect and honor. And this is true of just about every Samoan tattoo design that you will see, which is pretty great when you think about it. Just about every single design that the Samoan people have used over the centuries was made to honor both their culture and specific people in their lives. Knowing that, it’s no surprise that many people get Samoan tattoos.

Many tattooing ceremonies serve as a rite of passage for men and takes weeks of painful application. That process actually adds in even more to the Samoan tattoo meaning since they are saying that they are willing to go through that pain to show how much their culture means to them. And this once again brings us to the respect and honor meanings, which are always going to be part of these tattoos regardless of what the primary meanings are.

These tattoos are rarely given to people of non-Samoan heritage and are sacred to the Samoan culture. That doesn’t mean that non-Samoans can’t get Samoan tattoos, but it’s definitely rarer than other types of tattoos that come from different cultures. Plenty of people are tempted to get Samoan tattoos simply because they love the style, but the non-Samoans who are best candidates for these tattoos are those who genuinely respect the culture and want to show that respect by getting the tattoos.