Description
You might have a swallow tattoo already or you’re just mulling the idea around as a future tattoo, but you might find the origins of this traditional flash image quite fascinating! Among the most popular recipients of this traditional bird would of course be sailors. Before the days of advanced navigation systems, sailors would only know they were near land once they spotted swallows in the skies. This transpired into the tattoo meaning of a safe return to home. A bit more on the morbid, yet spiritual side, it was believed that the swallows would carry a drown sailor’s soul from the depths of the ocean up to heaven. To honour a fallen comrade, a swallow with a dagger through its breast would often be depicted.
SOURCE: Tattooed Martha
