An elephant is an animal known for its enormous size and magnificent power, which is why an elephant tattoo denotes great strength and power. Elephants seem an unusual choice for tattoo designs, but this in no way, affects the popularity of animal tattoo designs among tattoo lovers around the world. Whether represented in its mammoth animal form or as a small cartoon character, an elephant art inked on the body looks extremely cute and attracts the attention in the first glance itself. Moreover, it is the symbolic value of this tattoo design which adds to its popularity to a great extent and more and more people are going for this unique and amazing design these days.
They are considered to be one of those animal tattoos that are well-loved by thousands of tattoo lovers from all over the world. Well, there is no one to blame here since an elephant is a perfect subject for tattooing. This animal is deemed to be the strongest and biggest creature this planet has to offer. It is extremely dominant in nature, and its weight may reach as much as 8 tons.
That is quite a super heavy weight for a single creature, right? But despite its dominant nature, it cannot be denied that it is tempered and graceful. This is the main reason why this animal is loved by many in the past years and even up to these days. The truth is, an elephant is not that aggressive unless you provoke it. Such animal is well known for its big and long trunk, big ears, and super huge body.
Elephant Tattoos Meanings
Of course, there is no way elephant designed tattoos do not have their own meanings and symbolism. As a matter of fact, elephants are considered by a lot of cultures in the world as sacred animals that need to be respected. In this regard, here are some of the symbolism of elephant as well as the elephant art:
- Power – Even though elephant is not the king of the jungle like a lion, it is still symbolizing power and strength and it is all because of its huge size and a considerable amount of strength that it can release specially if its safety is being compromised. If you think you have the same characteristics with elephant, then the elephant designed tattoos would surely be great for you.
- Dominance – In case you do not know, elephant designed tattoos are symbolizing dominance and it is all because of the dominant nature of an elephant. It is a kingly kind of characteristic even though it is not known to be the king of the animal kingdom. Well, it is just right to be dominant since it has a very huge size that may threaten the other animals that are planning to attack it.
- Gracefulness – Even though elephants have dominance in nature, they still have the gracefulness that every individual would surely love the most. The truth is, these animals are never hot tempered at all times. If you just do not provoke them, then there is nothing to worry and they will remain as graceful as you want them to be.
- Loyalty – It symbolizes is loyalty. Even though it is very dominant and ferocious sometimes, this does not mean that it will abandon you if you are treating it as your friend. It can be very loyal to its friends specially to its family. This attitude is very human-like. If you are like this, then having this art would be great for you.
- Faith – Elephants are also symbolizing faith. As a matter of fact, these animals are considered by many people as one of those sacred animals. Because of this, people must respect elephants the way they respect their own self.
Inspiration
“She was one of the victims of the Alton Towers rollercoaster crash has had an elephant tattooed onto her one remaining leg as a symbol of ‘strength, unity and family’. Recently, Miss Balch visited a tattoo parlor to have a picture of a family of elephants tattooed onto her left leg.” (Source: DailyMail)
Popular Design Options
Needless to say, there are a number of elephant designed tattoo ideas that you can take into account when you are thinking of having an elephant art inked. All of these tattoo design ideas are very gorgeous, but not all of them are for you. This is the main reason why you need to consider a number of important things first before you finally decide which one you would choose. However, regardless of what is the perfect design for you, here are some worth considering elephant designed tattoo ideas that you should know:
- Elephant with Some Quotations – This is definitely a common design idea that you can always see on tattoo lovers all over the globe. It is composed of an image of an elephant of course as well as quotations that are significant for you. You can choose those favorite sayings of yours or anything that has significance in your life like your birthday, anniversary date and a lot more.
- Chain of Elephant Images – A chain of elephant images would also look nice on your body for sure. This idea involves several images of elephants that are connected to one another. In this idea, the elephants would look like they are creating a single line. Hence, it will need wider space on your body part. It would be perfect to be placed on your back, arms, and even legs.
- Couple Elephant Design Idea – As its name suggests, this design would involve an elephant couple that is engraved on your body. It might be that they are kissing each other or they are just standing close to each other. It will now depend on your personal preference and the idea of your tattoo artist. You can even include some of the elephant babies to make the image look like a family of elephants.
- Elephant Coupled with Another Animal – Another worth considering idea is an elephant that is coupled with another animal. It can be a turtle, a horse, a dog or anything you want to. This design would definitely depict friendship. So, if you are very friendly in nature. This design idea would be perfect for you.
Significance
Elephants are creatures of immense power and strength, yet they are considered peace loving and calm in disposition, unless something is done to provoke these gentle giants. This is what makes the animal somewhat likable.
- Elephant And Hinduism – The ancient Indian culture and history places elephant as a revered creature, used in important religious and social ceremonies, besides being used in warfare. In Hindu mythology, elephant is related to the Hindu deity called Lord Ganesha, who bears the body of a human and the head of an elephant and harbingers good luck, which is the reason why he is worshiped all over the country by the devotees.
- Elephant And Buddhism – In Buddhism too, the white elephant is regarded as a sacred creature. As per the symbolic meanings of the animal, the elephant tattoo stands for peace, kindness, compassion and love. Another symbolic interpretation of the elephant describes it as a protective being, who looks after his young ones and other her members with great dedication, and is even ready to sacrifice its life for its family. When an elephant dies, the whole herd stays by its side and mourns for a long time, which indicated the loyalty of these animals.
Similarly, this art represents love, devotion and protective instinct for one’s family. Also, this animal is well known for its nobility and surviving instinct, which makes it much liked for being used as a tattoo design.
More About Elephant Art
Among the people who are interested in getting inked with animal tattoo design, they make a cool option, particularly because of their versatility in design and meaning. Elephant art can be designed in such a manner that they can be made to look cute and funny on one hand, while other designs may feature them as powerful and strong creatures. These tattoo designs can look good on both men and women and are preferred by both. The designer can create a masculine or feminine design, by having different elements added according to the choice and requirement of his client. Also they come in a wide variety of sizes, small, medium or large and one can pick the size according to the desired placement as well as one’s preference. Most of the tattoo designs feature elephants in their natural color, which can be anything between black and grey, as it is rare to find the other kind of elephant, which is the white elephant. But the fact is that seeing such an elephant is very auspicious as it signifies the Divine, as per the Buddhist religion.
In case the bearer wants to get an eye catching design, he can have the elephant art done in a bright color too. A cartoon elephant character, with all its cuteness, can bring out the humorous and fun loving attitude of the tattoo bearer. Another design option in these tattoos comes in the form of tribal art, which includes Maori and Polynesian tattoo designs for featuring amazing looking elephant art.
Popular Tattoo Designs For Elephant
They look really cute, which makes them a preferred design for young boys and girls. At the same time, some designs exude raw power, which makes them ideal for people who want to denote their strength. Different tattoo designs can have different meanings and one can pick the one which describes his personality and attitude to the best. Moreover, the chosen design should be such that the bearer is comfortable with the idea of having it one forever and ever, as a tattoo once done, stays with a person for a lifetime. A way out is to try a temporary form of tattoo, as in henna tattoo art. Here are some well known elephant tattoo designs:
- Baby Elephant – An small elephant or a baby elephant with its trunk, featured on the wrist, looks pretty cool on young girls. They can also serve the purpose of finger tattoos. The flower and elephant design looks feminine and is suitable for women of any age.
- Cartoonist Elephant – A cartoon elephant playing a trumpet, featured along with some musical notes, also looks really cute. This design can be done in any size.
- Elephant Head Tattoo – Another popular design is the one which includes only the head of the elephant. The elephant art may also depict the animal in the form of the famous Hindu deity, Lord Ganesha, the son of Lord Shiva. But one needs to take care that the design should be such and located at such a location that it does not hurt the religious sentiments of any person.
- Elephant With Heart – An small elephant with a heart is a great tattoo to depict love and can be done as a couples tattoo on both the partners.
- Elephant With Angel Wings – African elephant with angel wings is a design which is of great significance in the Hindu religion as it represents elephant as a revered animal.
- Elephant Family – An elephant family depicted in tattoo art looks great, besides standing for the symbolic meaning of family bonding and protection of the family by the elephant.
Overall, the designs must focus on the elephant, though new ones can be created by incorporating other elements like feathers, anchors, dreamcatchers, flowers, stars, sun, butterflies and waves. These designs look cool when done in the form of water color or henna tattoos, which also makes them economical and painless, and at the same time look extra special.
Placement Guide
The size of the elephant art determines its placement to a large extent as a location needs to be selected to fit a small, medium or large sized elephant on the body of the bearer. In case, one is opting for a large sized design, it can ideally be placed on the back of the bearer because it provides a large surface area needed for inking the design. An expert tattoo artist can however ink the design with perfection at other locations too, which include the shoulder, chest, wrist, ankle, thighs, side, upper arm, sleeve, knee, back of the neck and back of the ear. There are however, some pros and cons of having an elephant inked etched on oneself. While the tattoo brings a lot of positivity as it is considered sacred in some religions like Hinduism and Buddhism, the only problematic thing about this tattoo design is that it can become complicated to be inked at certain locations due to its large size. But a capable and experienced artist can definitely fit it at the right place, without loss in integrity of design.
Where to Place Your Elephant Designed Tattoos
The truth is, it always depend on the wearers where to place their elephant designed tattoos. Even so, it is best to think about the placement of the tattoos well before doing the tattooing procedure. Make sure that you are considering several important things like the main purpose of having this tattoo. In relation to this, here are some of the best placements for your elephant art that must be taken into account:
- Elephant Art on Wrist – If you just want to have a small elephant designed tattoo, then having it on your wrist part would be ideal. You can have a simple image of an elephant or an elephant image that is accompanied with some more artistic sub designs, depending on your personal preference. You can even have a chain of small size elephants, which will certainly look good.
- Elephant Art on Back – In case you want to have a bigger size, then choosing the back part of your body would certainly be great. It is simply because this area is quite wide that any size of tattoo can be engraved here. You can choose the full back portion, the upper back, or just the lower back.
- Elephant Art on Fingers – Who would have thought that this bigger size of animal can also be perfectly engraved on your fingers? The only thing is that you will just have smaller size of elephant designs, unless you have huge size of fingers like an elephant that is impossible for sure. Since the design would be smaller, it will certainly require so much precision from the tattoo artist, so make sure to find the finest one.
- Elephant Art on Arms – In case your purpose of having an elephant tattoo art is to show to the other people how you admire this animal and you do not care about those people who hate tattoos, then placing the tattoo on your arms would be alright. This location is undeniably very visible to the eyes of many, attaining your number one purpose of tattooing. You can choose to have it on the upper parts of your arms. But if you wish to hide it sometimes, then choose the lower parts of your arms.
- Elephant Art on Shoulders – Just in case you do not know, your shoulders can also be great locations for your elephant designed tattoos. A lot of men are choosing this location because it will emphasize their broad shoulders, making them to have manlier images specially towards the opposite sexes. You can choose to have bigger size of elephant that will extend towards your back or anywhere you want to. The possibilities are endless for sure.
- Elephant Art on Legs – Legs can also be best locations for this kind of animal tattoo. Even so, legs can be very visible to the eyes of other people so make sure that you are not surrounded with conservative people who hate to see tattoos if you go for this location. It is not that having these tattoos is bad, you can’t just hide the fact that there are some people who consider tattooing as an evil deed specially when it comes to religion and personal belief matters.
- Elephant Art on Thighs – If you are really bothered by those conservative people who do not want to see any kinds of tattoos on someone’s body, then why not choose to hide your elephant designed tattoos when they are around? Well, this will surely be a hassle on your part in doing so at all times. As a solution for this, you can choose to get tattooed on your thighs. There is no way they can see your tattoos on your thighs when they are around. Hence, thighs would be great locations.
Final Words
Elephant tattoos would definitely look good on people who love elephant designed tattoos. Elephant is an adorable animal even though it has a huge size, so there’s no way people won’t like these tattoos. Before having these tattoos however, you should consider first which design to choose and which part of the body you will place it.
