Elephant Tattoos

What does a elephant tattoo mean?

An elephant tattoo stands for family, memory and protection, and those meanings come from real herd behavior. Matriarchs carry the knowledge that brings a family through drought, elephants linger over the bones of their dead, and adults keep the calves in the middle and face threats together, which is why so many pieces are memorials or mother-and-calf designs. In Hinduism the elephant-headed Ganesha is the remover of obstacles, and practicing Hindus keep his image above the waist. In Buddhist tradition, Queen Māyā dreamed of a white elephant with six tusks before the Buddha was born, so a white or negative-space elephant carries that reading. Trunk up reads as luck, trunk down as calm. Realism, blackwork, mandala and traditional styles all suit the animal, usually on the forearm, chest, thigh or back.

elephant tattoo meaning