Compass tattoos, do you know what they mean?

The truth is that talking about compasses is talking about tattoos. Sometimes we talk about different tattoos that stand out from the rest because they are very popular and many fans of this world have some tattooed. Well, the compass is one of "these" tattoos. Compass tattoos are very popular, especially since the classic (old school) style began to spread throughout North America and the rest of the world.

Although we will talk at length about its meaning and symbolism later, compasses are one of the most tattooed motifs among sailors. And there is a direct relationship between the world of tattoos, sailors and the compass. The compass by itself is a precious reason to design a tattoo and capture it on the skin. As you can see in the image gallery of compass tattoos at the end of the article, the possibilities are almost endless when it comes to tattooing them.

You can choose from a simple compass to a very elaborate and realistic one. However, What do they mean and symbolize? Compasses have several meanings as you can see below and all of them are applicable to both sailors and a person on foot. With that said, let's move on to talk about its meaning.

What do compass tattoos mean?

As we have said, Compass tattoos are one of the most popular tattoos tattooed around the world. An object known to the vast majority and whose meaning is quite interesting. And it is that, symbolism or meaning that we can attribute to a tattooed compass is varied. We can summarize it in four points: Protection, Set a goal, Back home and good luck.

In the first case, we talk about protection during travel. That is why many sailors tattoo a compass, in order to protect them during their long voyages at sea. And it is that the sailors trusted in the precision of this device to avoid getting lost and arriving safely at their destination.

In the second case and when we talk about set a goal, we must bear in mind the north star. This star was used by sailors to guide them in their travels when technology was not present in the boats. Extrapolated to modern society, we can say that it symbolizes the goals that we have set ourselves in life and that we want to achieve.

Regarding the third point, we have the fact that wanting to return home and be under the protection of our family. Specifically, we are talking about people who are living far from their native home and yearn to one day return to the city from which they left. It is also a beautiful tattoo with which to remember loved ones who are on the other side of the world.

And in the fourth point, we have good luck. For some cultures, the compass was a symbol of good luck since they consider it as the representation of the ability to guide that one must have to achieve everything we have set out to do.

Match your compass tattoo

It is something that we usually comment on more than one occasion since, depending on the tattoo that we are going to get, the simple fact of not combining it with anything can make the result not as expected. And, as you may have seen, there are different reasons that, if they are not accompanied with other elements, they can be very bland. One of them is compasses. Personally and depending on the style in which we are going to tattoo a compass, look for other things to accompany it.

If we are not going to do a minimalist style tattoo and very simple (Like some of the ones you can see at the end of the article in the image gallery, I would personally combine the compass with something else. A good option is to opt for other marine figures. That is, an anchor, rope, flag, etc ... Also It looks great if you combine it with different flowers, ribbons with names, dates or places and / or a reloj de arena.

When I say that a single compass may not look good, I do so with some experience.. I have a compass tattooed on my left arm (you can see it on my instagram) and initially that was the idea, just tattooing the compass. Finally I opted to combine it with a rose and a small chain. The result has been very good and I was quite happy with this tattoo. For this reason, I always recommend looking and looking for tattoos in which to be able to take ideas for ours. All this while meditating well the step that we are going to take. And it is that we are going to definitively capture something on our skin.