While not as popular as some other animal or sea life tattoos, the stingray tattoo is sometimes people’s number one choice if they love the look of the creature or if they want to use some meanings attached to it.
After all, stingrays have a very unique and interesting look to them and they have symbolism that you won’t find in other animals. On this page, we will take a look at some of those stingray tattoo meanings and some of the cool ways that you can get these tattoos designed.
The most obvious meaning that you can use with the stingray tattoo is protection. It uses its bard to great effect when it needs to, paralyzing creatures of all shapes and sizes. Most of us want to be protectors for our families and friends, so this is a meaning that a lot of people love to use. You can also use “protection” to mean that you want to be protected from yourself so you don’t make poor decisions in your life.
Another very commonly used meaning of the stingray tattoo is adaptation since they can easily camouflage themselves on the ocean floor. This is one of those unique meanings we talked about up top that you won’t be able to use with most other animal tattoos. You can use this meaning to show that you like being able to walk through the streets and not be bothered or that you can easily hide in plain sight to get your private time.
Similarly, you can have your stingray tattoo symbolize stealth since they do have that ability to move around in the water without being seen by fish that are trying to eat them. Stealth is a cool meaning for people in the military or for anyone who likes to be a bit sneaky. This, along with all of the other meanings listed on this page, can be used with absolutely any stingray tattoo design. You can take it a step further, though, but giving your stingray a ninja headband to make the meaning clearer.
Some people will be surprised to find out that stingray tattoos also represent peace, but it is definitely a fitting meaning for these guys. The fact is that they are not constantly on the prowl as some people assume. They actually live very peaceful lives and only use their barb when they feel it’s absolutely necessary. Remember that using the bard takes a lot out of these creatures, so they really don’t want to use it unless they have to.
Those looking to get a tattoo that represents speed will have a hard time finding a better sea creature than the stingray. If you don’t believe us, just go watch a video of a stingray being spooked and you will see an extremely fast animal. Obviously, this is a great meaning to use if you are an athlete or if you just take a lot of pride in being fast.
If you are proud that you wear your emotions on your sleeve, then you are probably a great candidate for a stingray tattoo. This is yet another stingray meaning that most people have no idea about, so it’s a good one to use if it works for you and you want to keep the tattoo private. Of course, you can add in other tats that represent emotion if you do want other people to know what it means.
Those who feel a deep connection with the stingray will usually get some type of tribal design rather than a realistic design. These tattoos still look like stingrays, but they use classic tribal bands to make the stingray’s shape. We recommend looking into getting one of these designs regardless of the meanings you want to use because they really do look fantastic on the skin.
If you weren’t looking to get a highly detailed stingray tattoo, well, you’re in luck because this animal has a very distinctive shape even in outline form. People will easily recognize what you have even if you have a stingray that only covers an inch or two of skin. You can leave the body blank or you can fill it in with black ink.
Because of their odd shape, designing and placing a stingray tattoo can be a bit challenging for some people. The main part that gives people trouble is the barb since you have to leave space for it behind the body. The chest is a great place for it because you can hang the barb anywhere, and it can work as a great arm tattoo if you are going with a medium-sized stingray tattoo.
You should definitely have two or three designs drawn up for you so you can see what it might end up looking like on your body and so you can figure out exactly where you want to place it.
No matter what type of stingray tattoo you decide to get, it’s important that it looks amazing on your skin. That’s why we recommend finding a good artist in your area to draw it up and apply your stingray tat for you. Even if you already have a design in mind, a top artist will help you to make any final-second tweaks. Plenty of tattooists can make your stingray look good, but you want to find someone who makes it jump off of your skin, even if it is a simpler design.
We hope you can now see why the stingray tattoo is such a good choice for so many people and that there are quite a few ways to get these cool creatures designed. We expect that the stingray will continue to climb the ranks as more people learn about their symbolism and compare them to the more popular animal tattoos.
If you do decide to get one of these tattoos, take your time while designing it and be sure to have a very good artist ink it on your skin for you.