In the world of tattooing, animal images have always been popular particularly wild animals that exude strong, powerful and even fearsome connotations. However, aside from the obvious choice of big cat images – for example lions, tigers and panthers – it may be worth considering an elephant tattoo. This design is gradually attracting the attention of more and more tattoo enthusiasts so lets take at look at it in more detail. The elephant is synonymous with strength being one of the largest and strongest animals in the jungle. In ancient African and Indian cultures, these massive creatures were revered due to their legendary strength and imposing size. Many ancient civilizations have actually compared elephants to great leaders and they were used in battles as psychological weapons to instill fear into the enemy before fighting even began.
In India, elephants are worshipped and are believed to represent divinity and kindness of spirit with Ganesh, one of the Indian God’s even being depicted as having an elephant’s head. Hindu rituals for special occasions involve elephants bathed and anointed in specials oils as prominent parts of the ceremony. With an elephant tattoo, the symbol is believed to represent the gods so this is a very sacred design to many.
With an elephant tattoo, tattooists generally stick to the animal’s natural coloring, although sometimes these designs are open to interpretation and the tattoo artist may use some creative license to alter the traditional image. One such design is the albino elephant, which holds great meaning for anyone who uses it as this is the most sacred of all elephants, a symbol for the gods. Anyone fortunate enough to spot this rare creature is considered to have been favored by the gods.
Apart from the many religious aspects, many choose this image because they want to express the elephant’s prominent traits of strength, longevity, fidelity and loyalty. The latter stems from the death of an elephant, as the rest of the herd will often remain, as if in mourning, with the dead elephant’s body for days. This design is generally more popular with men who are drawn to the masculine connotations of strength and power it provokes, although there are more feminine designs available for women too. As the elephant is one of the largest creatures on earth, it is seldom seen as a small tattoo and these tend to work better as larger designs covering a wider area of skin such as the arms and back. An experienced tattoo artist with a high caliber of skill could however produce a scaled down version to go on a smaller location like the wrist without losing the quality of the design if desired.
Most people who choose an elephant tattoo however, do so because of the symbolism behind it whether they can relate to its impressive character traits or just want to express those aspects of their own personality with this kind of tattoo. Regardless of the reasons behind your choice, be they personal, logical or spiritual, it is worth researching all the options available in this design both aesthetically and symbolically to ensure you make the right decision for you.
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