Heart Tattoos

Hearts That Cannot be Broken

Heart tattoos have been a popular tattoo choice for many decades and are back in demand with the new school style of tattoos depicting hearts as bold and bright. The heart in modern times is generally accepted as the center of feelings. It has also come to symbolize togetherness as in "unity of heart" and love of the romantic type.
However, many ancient civilizations regarded the heart as the center of intellect and intuition but modern cultures generally associate the head with thinking. Christians believed that the heart was the seat of emotions, particularly love. In Islam, the heart is seen as the spiritual centre. A heart symbol is used to replace the word 'love'.
It was also believed that the heart was the first organ to be created within a mother’s womb, and as it also the first organ to die, therefore “to love with one’s whole heart” often meant until one’s dying breath.
It was also believed that dreams came from the heart, hence the phrase “I sleep, but my heart wakes.” To dream of a heart can symbolize happiness or pain. But it can also symbolize dignity or division between two people.

Common Heart Tattoos

Heart pierced by an arrow Cupid or Eros shoots an arrow into a heart, causing the person to fall passionately in love. It shows that love can be both pleasurable and painful.

Broken heart A symbol of loss of a loved one, most often of a spurned or rejected lover. The term 'heartbroken' is used for extreme sadness and grief.

Heart with wings Can symbolize a free spirit

Sacred Heart This is a common religious tattoo and can symbolize devotion. St. John Eudes taught that the Sacred Heart is a Furnace of Divine Love. Those who desire to be united to this most loving Heart are purified, inflamed and transformed by this Divine Fire.

Heart with dagger Can represent betrayal and also bravery. This was a common tattoo amongst soldiers.

Bleeding Heart Can mean unrequited or lost love.

Placement of Heart Tattoos

For females heart tattoos are usually done on the chest area in a big, bright almost three dimensional way. They can also be done on the lower back area in a tribal tattoo style. Celtic tattoos can depict the heart in knotwork and also in the Claddagh style which is an old Irish wedding ring showing a heart held by two hands with crown sitting on top.

For guys getting heart tattoos the most common place to get them is on the arms such as a heart pierced by a dagger or sword. They can also be done on the chest in a religious sense as a sacred heart tattoo or bleeding heart tattoo.

Whatever way you look at it the heart is an ancient symbol that has come to mean many things to many people and there is no denying the power it represents in our lives. As such heart tattoos are timeless and will most likely never become dated because they hold a very personal meaning and maybe strong memories for the person getting it done.