Armband tattoos are one of the most favorite types among both genders. They have come to replace the accessories, like bracelets, arm bands and just decorating your arms throughout your lifetime. Just apply an armband tattoo design and create your own personal style, choosing the tattoo to be the symbol of your ideals, beliefs or dreams.

To your great pleasure, there are numerous options of armband tattoo designs. And some of the most popular choices for inking an armband include the famous Celtic knot band, barbed wire armband, chain armbands, floral wreath armbands, and so many more. We’ve checked out dozens of different outstanding and impressive armband tattoo designs. Take a look at them and find yours!

This Celtic tattoo denotes something that is unending, like endless love, or enduring loyalty. The Celtic knot is also sometimes called the “love knot”, or “mystic knot” and the “endless knot” indicating a deep and timeless spirituality that leads us to the infinite cycles of life, birth and rebirth without beginning or end. The optical illusion of consequently connecting pathways creates an incredible visual impact.

Actually, these barbed wire armbands include different meanings. Some of the concepts refer to Christianity, in which the barbed wire design represents the Crown of Thorns worn by Jesus Christ at his Crucifixion and signifies a deep religious faith. Another one is that the time before World War I Russian convicts were tattooed with barbed wire designs, and the placement on the body represented the length of the sentence. Barbed wire on the forehead meant a life sentence, while barbed wire as an armband indicated a lengthy sentence but not life. Nowadays, almost nobody pays attention to the ancient meanings of these armbands, and they simply apply such tattoos for the aesthetic pleasure.

Among the huge number of Native American symbolic tattoos, feather armbands have their own place and meaning as well. Thus, the feather tattoos denote different things in the American culture. For example, an eagle feather represents strength, wisdom and freedom. If the feather is included in a dream catcher design, it can also symbolize a protective totem. While, today a feather armband tattoo can either represent your own Native American heritage, or if you are not of Indian blood, then you can simply choose an Indian feather design because of its symbolic meanings and beautiful image.

In fact, the “tribal” tattoos come from Polynesian and Hawaiian tribes, where each member of the tribe would be inked with identical tattoos to indicate their familial origins. Today, like the above mentioned tattoo meanings, people apply them for the beauty and not for the original history and symbolism. Many symbols in tribal armband designs can actually represent important ideas such as strength, wisdom, inner peace, love and family.

Floral designs are very popular among tattoos, and a flower armband is for girls, as it can be a beautiful, feminine and colorful tattoo design. However, each flower has its own symbolic identity, so choose your flower(s) carefully. For instance, white carnations stand for pure love, daffodils symbolize new beginnings, lilies represent the souls of the departed, and orchids refer to beauty. The meaning of roses depends on the color: red is for deep love and passion, pink for gratitude, yellow means joy and friendship, white stands for purity and innocence, and purple roses stand for love at first sight.

Nevertheless, there are innumerable choices for your armband tattoo design. Whether you choose to get your arm inked with one of the five most popular designs, or you apply something more uniquely suited to your own personality, the important thing is to “think twice, cut once”.