Swallow Tattoos

A symbol of freedom; a symbol of return; in Egyptian mythology, they are linked to the souls of the dead. The Swallow is absolutely ubiquitous in tattooing, an undying favourite that appears again and again on arms, legs, wrists, backs, clavicles, hips and necks. The origin of their presence as part of the classical western tattoo iconography can be found in the midst of sailor tattoo culture and the roots of old school western traditional: sailors, ever-superstitious and wary in a profession and at a time where fatalities, injury and disappearance were ever present possibilities, developed the concept of getting tattoos as good luck charms, badges of honour, status symbols and mementos. In this context, swallows were applied as sign of its wearers having travelled a certain distance. One swallow signified 5,000 nautical miles, two meant 10,000, and so forth. Obviously, a man who made it up as far as two swallows would be a reassuring sight and a silent mark of his solid seafaring ability – from this, it is easy to see how the swallow gained a second connotation, of good luck and a symbol of safe passage over the waves. Further, they can be seen as a mark of loyalty to a family eager to have the tattooed sailor return – a promise that they will come back. If worst came to worst, the mythological connotations of a swallow as a carrier of souls meant that if the sailor died at sea, his tattoo would aid a steady passage to the underworld (or heaven…whichever religious afterlife designation you prefer.) Of course, time goes on, a popular, attractive little design sticks around as a tattooing essential and meaning multiplies, diversifies and evolves – Swallow tattoos today might be said to have as many different meanings as the people that wear them, gathering negative and positive connotations by the handful. There will be people who tell you that the swallow was tattooed on inmates in prisons as a sign of its’ wearers support for white supremacy, for example. It’s seen as a sign of pride in working-class origins; of boxers, of long distance relationships, of hope, worldliness, experience. They can have extra significance according to anatomical placement: Swallows on your hands mean something very different to swallows on your lower back. Then, of course, there’s the New-School appropriation of the Swallow icon, where the importance of its meaning comes second to a neon-colour, hugely aesthetic image: the swallow icon becomes a spring board, a picture for artists to reshape and bounce off to test their own creativities and give their clients something old and new simultaneously.