Celtic Tattoo Designs

Celtic design tattoos are becoming very popular. Celtic design tattoos are recognized immediately not only for their meaning but because they are truly striking tattoos. Celtic design tattoos are mostly black but different shades of color are becoming increasingly popular. Celtic designs are considered to be self-expressive because you get to apply meaning to your particular Celtic design tattoo because of the flexibility of the definitions regarding Celtic art.
Popular Celtic Design Tattoos

    Celtic Butterfly Tattoos – representing rebirth and transformation. The Celtic butterfly design can also represent a person’s soul.
    Celtic Cross Tattoos – this Celtic design signifies eternity, faith, and the proof of God’s love. The Celtic cross includes a circle at the top of the cross.
    Celtic Claddagh – the claddagh design is a heart with a crown that is held by two hands. The heart symbolizes love, the crow loyalty, and the hands friendship.
    Celtic Knot – symbolizing the entwining of physical and spiritual paths of our lives the Celtic Knot tattoo has always been popular among Celtic design tattoos. The interwoven patterns and the extended loops, spirals, and turns symbolize eternity and they cycle of death and rebirth. An armband tattoo with knot designs is a tasteful and very common idea for Celtic design tattoos. The complex knots tend to form geometric shapes including triangles and circles. A circle will often represent eternity or continuum of life forces. Shaped like a triangle, the Celtic trinity knot symbolizes, the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit or mind, body and spirit.
    Celtic Tree of Life – The tree of life symbolizes a bridge between heaven and earth. The designs consist of branches which reach out to heaven while the roots grip the earth. This Celtic design also represents the axis mundi (center of the world) by using the Tree of Life as an axis symbol that connects three planes: the roots representing the underworld, the trunk meets the earth, and the branches reach for the sky.
    Celtic Heart Design – This tattoo is said to be the most romantic of all Celtic design tattoos. Also known as the love knot tattoo it generally represents the union of souls. Often this tattoo design is formed from one continuous line with a complex weave that is heart shaped.

The Celts have long believed that animals taught people how to live in harmony with nature. Celtic zoomorphic tattoo designs associate symbolic meanings with a certain animal. Let’s take a look at some possible Celtic tattoo designs that have to do with what certain animals represent in the Celtic culture.
Animals for Celtic Design Tattoos

    Boar: ferocity
    Bull: strength
    Deer: fertility, renewal, and abundance
    Dog: luck and loyalty
    Dragon: power and magic
    Horse: beauty, speed, vitality, and rejuvenation
    Lion: nobility and strength
    Peacock: purity
    Raven/Crow: death
    Snake: healing, fertility, and rebirth

Celtic design tattoos are a great way to express your homage to the Celtic culture. With thousands of Celtic design tattoos out there coupled with their deep symbolism and rich meaning it should be fairly easy for anyone to pick out a Celtic inspired tattoo.