The SPQR tattoo is an ancient Roman tattoo that was worn by gladiators, soldiers, slaves, and criminals in order to distinguish them from everyone else. These days most people get these tattoos as badges of honor that they wear proudly on different areas of their bodies.
Below you will find information on these SPQR tattoos, including some of the different designs that people choose to get and some of the meanings you might like to use if you get one of those designs.
SPQR, which stands for Senātus Populusque Rōmānus and is translated as “The Senate and People of Rome,” is actually still a symbolized stamp found and used in Rome today. The stamp is sometimes just the letters, sometimes has a wreath encircling the letters, and most commonly has an eagle inside of a golden wreath above the letters. Most people do not get the SPQR tattoo to represent the city, but there are some folks who will show their pride in Rome by getting one.
Many people who choose to get SPQR tattoos today are doing so to show that they have a voice that needs to be heard. They often feel oppressed and get one of these designs to bring awareness to certain social issues. It is not uncommon for a group of people to get these SPQR tattoos together to show their unity in the fight against a specific cause.
Others will get their SPQR tattoos to say that they will never forget the injustices that were put upon those who were forced to wear those tattoos. This is an interesting form of heritage tattoo to get if you happen to have connections to people who were oppressed. These tattoos show that their owners will do all that they can to make sure that those types of unforgivable injustices will never happen again. Really, you don’t even have to have a direct connection to those people; what really matters is that you believe in this message.
Not all SPQR tattoos are meant to make a political statement. In fact, if you see someone outside of Rome with one of these designs, you can probably assume that they use completely different meanings than many of those who live there. Below we will take a look at some of the most common meanings attached to SPQR tattoo designs today.
Plenty of people who get SPQR tattoos do so to show that they are “warriors” or have a warrior mentality. This is because the SPQR brands on gladiators are what made people recognize them, and they were most definitely worshipped by plenty of people. If you get an SPQR tattoo for this reason, you are saying that you won’t back down from fights of any kind and that you will defend everything that is important to you.
Courage is another very popular SPQR tattoo that people like to attach to their designs. Courage can mean different things to different people, but all of them work with this tattoo. For example, if you want to have the courage to do things in your life that are a bit scary to you, then your SPQR tattoo could be used as a sort of motivational tool. If, on the other hand, you are proud of your courageousness, you could also get an SPQR tattoo for that too!
Some people choose to get their SPQR tattoo designs with just the text, but there are plenty of people who like to add in extra ancient Roman designs to add a more striking look to them. For example, that same eagle found on the Roman stamp could easily be added to one of these designs without changing the meanings whatsoever.
If you wanted to go all out with your design, you could add in a heavily detailed gladiator or two, possibly even fighting inside of an arena. Your options are pretty much limitless, but you’ll want to hire a good artist to work on your design if you do plan on getting a more complex piece.
Regardless of whether you are getting just the text in your SPQR tattoo or adding in more design elements, you should definitely take your time when choosing a font to use. You don’t have to use one of those ancient Roman fonts, but they do give these designs a slightly more authentic look. Since just about every SPQR tattoo has serious meanings attached to it, you definitely don’t want to get any type of cartoony font in your design. It’s a good idea to test out a few of them so you can get an idea of how they will look on your skin.
You should always hire tattoo artists who you can trust when getting your ink done, but that’s especially true if you are opting to get a heavily detailed SPQR tattoo. Many of these designs are quite large and time-intensive, so you will want an artist who has the skills and experience to get the job done. We recommend searching around online for all of the tattoo shops in your area and going to each one to see which one feels like the best place for you. These days you can also look up reviews on different artists to see what others have thought about their work.
You should now have a good understanding of what an SPQR tattoo is and some of the meanings that people like to use with these designs. It’s not a very common tattoo outside of Rome, but that doesn’t mean it can’t be the perfect tattoo for you. If any of the meanings work for you and you can think of a design that will look amazing on your body, then chances are it actually is a great tattoo idea for you.
Just be sure that you take your time during the design process to make sure that you get exactly what you want, and then hire a top tattoo artist to make that design come to life on your skin
The Roman military tattooed deserters so they could be recognized for their misdeeds. They also tattooed soldiers with a series of dots to denote their rank & status. The SPQR fetish some people have is mystifying. It does not denote freedom in any way. Romans may have believed authority came from the people but yet slavery was legal and their society was based around status. In the cultural and social sense, they were oppressed. In politics, leaders could be chosen by whoever assassinated the previous governor, senator or emperor. Their society was *far* from free and many of their soldiers/warriors were slaves and were forced to earn freedom through military service. SPQR stands for corruption with strong undertones of malevolence.