I’d get a loveheart with a label running across it, on my upper arm. I’d leave the label blank, and write the name of my current girlfriend in in black texta.
I’ve also considered getting a couple of important life rules and pieces of wisdom tattoed to the back of my left hand like a shopping list. Although, probably best to get it on the right hand - that way the left hand is blank, for actual shopping lists (I’m right handed).
That all being said, I have no intention of getting a tattoo… so, this is all hypothetical. It’s possible that when it came down to it, I’d wuss out and get something less silly than those I’ve listed above.
My family name has a coat of arms. If I was to get a tattoo, I’d get that done on a shoulder blade. Its something that I don’t think I’d regret in 20 years.
It’s most likely the location. Tattoos on fingers, toes, ankles, and other parts that get a lot of bendin, use, & such don’t last nearly as long as those on the, umm, smoother parts.
Short of sunscreen, tattoos are pretty low maintenance so there’s no much problem in “taking care of them properly”.
The situation may differ somewhat from country to country, but in general there’s no such thing as “a coat of arms for your family name.”
You have to be related to the original bearer of the coat of arms – in the British system you must be a direct descendent through the first-born male line in order to have exactly the same coat of arms, and sometimes not even then – and in many cases you have to prove your descent from that person in order to have the right to use the arms.
Unscrupulous people in the business of heraldic art (I want to call them “arms dealers” but will refrain) will attempt to sell you products containing the arms of someone who happens to have the same last name as you, but to which you do not necessarily have any connection whatsoever.
Fortunately there is a solution: you can either trace your descent back to someone who had arms and then matriculate their arms (assuming you are entitled to do so), or you can discover the art of heraldry and develop a coat of arms for yourself (perhaps including certain charges from the coat you mention, if you like them), and then matriculate that with the appropriate authorities (or simply assume it if you do not live in a country with an extant heraldic authority or are not descended from such a country.)
Thank You! I never knew this. Under the British rules (heck, probably under any rules) I wouldn’t qualify for that coat of arms. Imagine the embarrasment if I had already tattooed that on my back! In one post, you have both fought ignorance and talked me out of having a tattoo. Well Done Sir!!!
Somewhere out there on the great web is a handful of knitter’s tattoos. Not that I would, but some of them are quite well one.
I’ve thought of just words: We are all related.
I’ve been tempted to get a caduceus tattoo on my right shoulder blade or left pec ever since I got accepted to medical school last month. The only thing that stands in my way is finding an artist, settling on the artwork, setting an appointment (preferably really early on a Sunday), getting very drunk Friday night, making my way to Mexico (from San Diego), returning to San Diego late Saturday, getting more drunk all through the night until said appointment on Sunday morning. That way when my kids see it they’ll ask about how I got it and think their old man is a bad-ass. Ah, nothing says med-school like planned spontaneity.
I have wanted a tattoo for years, but have never been able to settle on a design or location. For a long time, I wanted something on the small of my back, just above my butt. However, with the rise of “tramp stamp” or “ass-hat” tattoos, that sort of nixes my idea. I’ve never come across something that was meaningful enough for me. (I’ve got a friend with a jumping Tigger on her shoulder blade. Blech.) The only thing that has really stuck with me visually that would make a simple tattoo is the zodiac symbol for Taurus - just the circle with “horns” seen in the upper right here.
My husband has a peace sign with some swirly/trippy colors behind it on his right shoulder blade. He’s a serious pacifist. He’s considering getting the “patch” from his tae kwon do school on the left shoulder blade one of these days.
Be careful with this. NajaHusband wanted to get a ring tattooed in lieu of wearing a metal wedding ring because of his work, and we were told in separate incidents by a couple very prominent tattoo artists each with more than twenty five years in tattooing that no reputable tattoo artist would tattoo hands. You shed and regrow skin cells on your hands so quickly that it’ll blur to unrecognizable in a fairly short period of time.
