Thursday, August 9, 2012

Swallow Tattoos: It Can Set You Apart

The demand for swallow tattoos has been on a rise in recent past. It has been found, those who opt this, think this is one of the creative ways of expressing themselves. There are some more items in tattoos which have also found an immense popularity among tattoo users. Some of these items may include in the category of, Tribal, Star Designs, Cross, Wings, Maori Symbols, Dragon, Phoenix, Fairy Designs, Lion, Celtic Symbols, Tiger, Rose, Heart Symbols, Zodiac Symbols, Skull Designs, Flower, Crown Designs, Eagle, Pinup Girl, Kanji Symbols, Tiger, Sun Designs & Symbols, Butterfly Designs, Angel, etc.

Also known as bluebirds, swallows are essentially known as European birds. When you see a person sporting a swallow tattoo, you can be sure of one thing. The person ought to have a liking for birds and traditions. It is widely believed, sailors often got them etched on your skin as a proof of the Navy. This went a long way in winning trust.

Even ancient history records suggest why animal tattoos gained momentum with passing time. Head of a jackal or the body of a lion were regularly used by Egyptian gods. Some European stories find mention of werewolves and vampires as well. So, when someone likes to go for a, say, fox tattoo, they try to imbibe praiseworthy features of a jackal. Likewise, animal tattoos are said to represent the connections we share with numerous types of spirits which in a way goes on to define our personality traits. Our instincts and innate nature in a sense gets accurately symbolized by this sort of a tattoo.

There is an interesting fact why most sailors preferred this. In fact, most of them believed it to be a status symbol. Those days, a ship named "The Swallow" had a kind of mutiny among these sailors. It was during this time that each sailor had a form of swallow tattoo done on their chest. This was done with an intention to make identification procedure easy for each other. There is also one school of thoughts which believed, if there was a death of a sailor at sea, having this tattoo on their chest would ensure their spirits are flown back to heavens. This is why, it went a long way to comfort and give some relief to minds and souls of these sailors.

In UK, tattoos of swallows are also recognized as a gesture to symbolize working-class pride. It is a common site to witness this tattoo located on back of hands. There is a special reason why hands were selected instead of any other body part. Sporting it on back of hands was often meant to mean "these fists fly". When it comes to prison, its use could mean different things for different people. For instance, it could mean a sign for "white power" or a sign of "freedom".

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