If you are a fan of the band Bring Me the Horizon, chances are you have heard of their album Sempiternal. If you haven’t, well the symbol on the front of that album is quite popular with fans of the rock band and is seen in many tattoos across the world. Unlike many other band tattoos, though, the Sempiternal tattoo can have more than just one meaning, and most of the meanings associated with this tattoo are pretty interesting.
The shape used for the Sempiternal album cover is a version of The Flower of Life, which is one of the seven “divine elements of sacred geometry.” The shape has many interwoven circles that create a large hexagon. There is a gold lace surrounding the large shape and the entire cover is done in gold and black.
As we pointed out before, there are quite a few reasons why people decide to get their Sempiternal tattoos. Below you will find some of the most popular meanings that can be used with these tattoos as well as a couple of ways that you might get one designed if you end up deciding to get one.
Commonly Used Sempiternal Tattoo Meanings
Probably the most common reason why people choose to get the Sempiternal tattoo is because they love the Sempiternal album. This meaning won’t be clear to people who have never heard of the band and/or seen the cover, but that’s not necessarily a problem, especially to those who want to keep it as a bit of a mystery.
Another pretty common meaning attached to the Sempiternal design is “everlasting life,” since that is what the shape actually represents. That’s a great meaning to use if you believe in the afterlife or if you love the way that things (including music) live on even after we are gone.
The Sempiternal tattoo can also be used as a love tattoo. It can mean eternal love, which is a great meaning to use if you and your significant other both love the band and each other. You could even add in other love designs to make this meaning a bit clearer, such as putting hearts somewhere inside or outside of the Sempiternal shape.
Sometimes people will get their Sempiternal tattoos to remember the good times they had while listening to Bring Me the Horizon. Maybe it was the album you listened to on a very memorable road trip you took; in that case, you could get the Sempiternal both to show your love for the band and to always remember that trip.
Other Sempiternal Tattoo Meanings
Sempiternal isn’t just the name of Bring Me the Horizon’s album. It is an adjective that means everlasting, so there certainly are some Sempiternal tattoos that have nothing to do with the band.
The truth is that quite a few people get their Sempiternal tattoos because they really like the look of the shape (and they like the band, of course). Even though this isn’t a deep meaning, it still is a legitimate reason to get one of these tattoos.
Sempiternal Tattoo Designs and Placement
In most cases, people like to get their Sempiternal tattoos designed exactly like the one found on the Bring Me the Horizon album cover. Sometimes the colors are a bit different and sometimes the background from the over is left out, but for the most part fans of the band want others to know exactly what they have on their skin.
The key to getting the Sempiternal design correct is knowing how to interlock the circles starting from the middle and designing them outward. This is definitely not the type of design you want to create on your own unless you have artistic skills since it’s quite tough to get it perfect. You could try to copy it from the album cover, but even then it would be tough since half of the circles are slightly hidden. Since most Sempiternal tattoos are quite complex to make, it would be a good idea to find a tattoo artist who has experience making geometric tattoos.
Lyrics are often added above or below the Sempiternal shape to give the tattoo a bit more meaning. If you opt to do this, you will want to think about the exact lyrics you want to include and the font that you want to use. Ideally, you’ll find a font thickness that matches the lines in the Sempiternal shape, but that’s not totally necessary as long as you find a font that matches the overall look of the Sempiternal.
If you are including any other images in your Sempiternal tattoo design to add more meaning or to simply liven it up a bit, you’ll need to decide how prominent you want the Sempiternal shape to be. Most people will choose to make it the centerpiece of the design, but it could also be one of multiple shapes in a larger piece.
You might think because the Sempiternal tattoo is a pretty complex shape that it would be tough to place, but it’s really not. You can very easily blow it up or shrink it down to make it fit where you need it to. If you are just getting the main shape, though, you might find that the shoulder or another circular area of your body works best.
Is the Sempiternal Tattoo Right for You?
It’s always important to really think about whether you want to get a band tattoo or not since tastes in music sometimes shift as the years go by. If you are a big fan of Bring Me the Horizon, though, and you found that one or more of the Sempiternal tattoo meanings mentioned above hit home for you, then you might just be a great candidate for one of these designs.
The Sempiternal tattoo is certainly one of the more unique band tattoos around today and it has a bunch of cool meanings, so most people will find that they will end up being happy with these tattoos for the rest of their lives.