Tribal Tattoo’s have become one of the most popular tattoo designs in the world, it received a huge growth in the 90’s and is still going strong now. There are thousands of designs the average person could walk in to a parlour and request today, they seem to be popular because of their aggressive black styling and some have a deep or magical meaning, but some just look magnificent.

Tribal tattoos are usually considered to be very extravagant, although colours are some times used, more often than not they are just black. Their history can be traced back many years in Africa, Pacific Isles and the Maori tribes, these tattoos were not applied usually just for style as they are often used nowadays. In countries such as Samoa and the different tribes in New Zealand they would be used to tell a story, this could be their life story or their heritage, most males in the tribes would have very large tattoo’s spreading all over the body, in the Maori culture a man would gain more respect if he had his body covered, this included the face. The art of tattooing in the Southern Pacific Isles in countries such as Samoa was used to display their status in the tribe, so the higher their status in the community; they would receive a higher prestigious tattoo. The art is still being practiced today and is an unbroken tradition that is passed on to their children and grand children. It is very hard to prove where the art started but the earliest form recorded was by the Polynesians who would also tattoo their status as well as the stories we mentioned before.

Tribal Tattoos can have numerous meanings in different cultures, some have a mystical background which they think will bring them luck or protect them. Some of the tribes in Borneo apply a tattoo over their heart; this is a ritual they think will protect them against harm in battle and life. An example of these tattoos is the ‘aso’, it is meant to bring great fortune and luck to the person who bares the symbol.

As mentioned already, tribal tattoos are usually black in colour, aggressive in style and usually have waving designs with pointing edges, every one is thought to have a meaning, maybe not all of the modern ones carry this stereotype. The Samoan tribal tattoos usually are made up of straight lines and are symmetrical which differs from the other tribal tattoos.

There’s no doubting the popularity of tribal tattoos among average every day people now, they have far extended from their mysterious tribal background. A lot of people now get them because of the reputation of the tribal tattoo design, specifically because of their ‘manly’ background and show a symbol of heritage and power which is so often associated with the words tribal tattoo, but in an aesthetically paranoid world we live in today, most are designed purely with looks in mind.

People get them for the stigma and manly attributes etc

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