Mustache Tattoo Meaning, Design & Ideas

The mustache is sometimes considered the sign of a man. Some of the great men in movies have had some great mustaches. Sam Elliot, Bert Reynolds, Tom Selleck and Eddie Murphy are some of the most famous mustaches in Hollywood. Even some of the great minds rocked a mustache for most of their lives.

These men include Albert Einstein, Friedrich Nietzsche, and Mark Twain to name a few. Many might say these mustaches hold a certain mystique or even a hidden power. Others might think it’s just a little hair on your upper lip. We are of the opinion that a solid mustache is hard to come by so when you see one, you must appreciate it. Not everyone is able to grow a good mustache so the second best thing you can do is to get a mustache tattoo.

Now most people aren’t willing to get a mustache tattoo on their lip. The nice thing about growing one is that you can get rid of it. A mustache tattoo would make that difficult. However, this doesn’t stop people from getting the mustache tattoo on other parts of their body. Maybe to invoke the power of the ‘stache. Whatever their reason is, we appreciate the effort.

In this post, we will talk about the mustache tattoo symbolism and what it might mean to the person wearing it. It might not be associated with what you would think so that is why we will talk about some examples of the mustache tattoo representing other traits. We hope that by the end of this post, you have a better idea of what the mustache tattoo represents and why you were thinking of getting one on your body.

History of the Mustache

Not many things have gone in and out of fashion quite as often as the mustache. Hairy faces are loved and hated. It’s high maintenance but when done right, can look pretty damn cool.

There is nothing new about the mustache and facial hair. Since the beginning of time, men have shaped and sculpted the hair that grows on their faces. It can be cosmetic but also extremely useful. The mustache and the art of shaping your facial hair have gone through phases and ebbs and flows of popularity.

The love of the mustache can be traced all the back to medieval times when the knights of the time had armor made to accommodate their mustaches. Edward, Prince of Wales has an effigy on his tomb that showed his armor covering his neck and face but letting the mustache flow free over the top. This was back in the 14th century.

We can thank the English for making the mustache a fashion statement. King James I came to the throne with a fantastic mustache and he was very proud of it. Any picture you see of him is going to show him with a mustache. King Charles I, the son of King James I, made the goatee and handlebar mustache cool which led to many copycats.

We could talk about how many awesome mustaches were out there, but I think you get the point. Now we will move on to the symbolism of the mustache.

Mustache Tattoo Meaning

The mustache has a great deal of symbolism surprisingly. Much of this can be tied to religion and how other cultures view the mustache.

It is said that in Christianity, the mustache is thought of as the mark of the beast or to represent things associated with the Devil. It is usually associated with some kind of evil force. This doesn’t mean you should shave off your mustache before going to church, but it wouldn’t be a bad idea. Then you can get a mustache tattoo instead.

The mustache tattoo can also symbolize a man’s virility in Indian culture. Problems came about during the British Raj because of this and British facial hair was directly impacted by Indian mustaches. During this time, Indian soldiers saw their British officers’ lack of mustaches and facial hair as a sign of weakness and there was a lack of respect. This led to British officers growing mustaches and facial hair to help strengthen their authority in the eyes of their Indian soldiers.

In many Arab countries, the moustache is associated with strength and power while beards are associated with traditional Islam. In the Islam religion, trimming the mustache is considered to be a recommended way of life and you can’t trim a mustache without first growing one.

Overall, we see a lot of masculine symbolism with the mustache. There is a kind of power associated with it and the mustache tattoo is a great symbol of this if you can’t grow one for yourself.

Mustache Tattoo Variations

The mustache is a pretty straightforward image, but we see it in a couple of different ways when it comes to getting a tattoo. Below are a couple of versions of the mustache tattoo that we have seen.

Mustache on Finger Tattoo

The finger mustache tattoo is bar none, the most popular mustache tattoo out there. This tattoo is a lot of fun because you can just put your finger under your lip to expose the tattoo on your finger and give you the look of having a mustache.

This tattoo is also known as the “fingerstache” tattoo. In most cases, this tattoo seems to be used more for its comedic value versus the symbolism of masculinity. The nice thing about this tattoo is that you can wear a mustache for 10 seconds and make it disappear if you would like.

Handlebar Mustache Tattoo

The handlebar mustache tattoo is a popular version of this image as well. This style of mustache would be described as a full mustache with the ends extending straight out or curling up like motorcycle handlebars. This style of mustache is extremely high maintenance and takes a lot of work to keep up, but it sure looks cool when it’s done right.

So instead of taking all that time to grow your own, get that handlebar mustache tattoo you have been thinking about and if you need help finding an artist to finish the project, let us know.

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