Popular among both men and women, heart tattoos are always in style. As a long-time favorite, the demand for unique designs with trendy flair remains constant. Symbolizing love, devotion, betrayal or sacrifice, heart tattoos can reveal deeply meaningful messages while also being beautiful pieces of body art.

The most well known meaning of heart tattoos is to symbolize love, friendship and devotion. Often times, a simple, symmetrical heart shape that is carefully tattooed is all that is desired. Other times, the artwork may feature cupid, love birds or beautiful flowers. For those with a sense of humor, selecting a dancing heart or comical heart cartoon may be an option while others may lean towards more whimsical, heart-shaped ladybugs. Whatever your taste or message, there are literally thousands of heart tattoos to choose from in modern day tattoo studios and on reputable tattoo art websites.

Heart Tattoos with Ribbons
Heart tattoos featuring winding ribbons gracing the name of a loved or lost one are a staple design in today’s tattoo studios. “Mom” ribbons and heart tattoos were made popular by sailors and is a classical design that can be seen around the world. Whether using “Mom”, the name of one’s children, a spouse or even pets, this timeless tattoo is just as popular today as it has ever been. There are many different variations of these ribboned heart tattoos including multiple ribbons and hearts (for multiple children, both parents, etc.), complimentary flowers (signifying beauty), birds (peace, “love birds”, etc), butterflies (free spirits) and water (purity, serenity, etc) to name a few.

Heart Tattoos with Daggers
Heart tattoos featuring daggers is another variation. Many of these designs symbolize pain, hurt or betrayal inflicted by a loved one or the pain associated when losing someone close. Sometimes daggered heart tattoos indicate “sacrifice.” This is usually the case when the dagger or heart depicts military features or if the daggered heart is enveloped by thorns (representing the thorned crown that is associated with Christ).

Sacred Heart Tattoos
Another variation of popular heart tattoos, as briefly touched on above, are those symbolizing religious beliefs, most recognizably, the sacred heart tattoo. The sacred heart tattoo features a heart surrounded by thorns, blood and fire. These heart tattoos symbolize Christ’s sacrifice and his burning love for all mankind in the Catholic church. Other religious heart tattoos may feature crosses, angel wings, rosary beads, halos and even Christ himself.

Winged and Flying Heart Tattoos
Often times, heart tattoos with wings are chosen not only for their ability to be small enough for a wary first-timer, but also due to their meanings as free souls. As the symbol of the Sufi Movement (a mystical branch of Islam focusing on the spreading of love, unity and harmony), the flying heart is adorned with a crescent moon (representing the heart’s responsiveness) and a five-pointed star (representing divine light).

Colors of Heart Tattoos
Heart tattoos can be shaded in any desired color. Here are some of the most commonly chosen colors for heart tattoos and some of their meanings:

RED: love; romance

PURPLE: passion; wounded or killed during military duty

RAINBOW: gay love

BLACK: dead love

Although heart tattoos are common requests by both men and women, they are more commonly associated with women. They are normally smaller in size and can be placed practically anywhere on the body: chests, lower stomachs, lower backs, arms, ankles and numerous other areas.

Celebrities with Heart Tattoos
Many of today’s hottest celebrities have found their way into tattoo studios seeking heart tattoos. Here is a short list of star personalities baring heart tattoos of their own:

JENNIFER ANISTON / Actress: Heart tattoo on stomach

KEVIN BACON / Actor: Heart tattoo on inside of arm

MICHELLE BRANCH / Singer: Heart tattoo on ring finger

PETE DOHERTY / Musician: Heart tattoo with “K” inside on left shoulder

RICKY MARTIN / Singer: Rose and heart tattoo on front of left groin

EWAN McGREGOR / Actor: Dagger and heart tattoo featuring the names of his wife and daughters on right arm

BRETT MICHAELS / Poison band member: Knife and heart tattoo on right arm

ALYSSA MILANO / Actress: Heart tattoo on buttocks

MANDY MOORE / Actress & Singer: Heart tattoo on toe

TIFFANY AMBER THIESSEN / Actress: Green heart tattoo on stomach

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