Star tattoos, why?

A star on one side of your shoulder declares if you are straight or bi.

Nautical Star Tattoos - The nautical star is a very old modern tattoo, going back at least a century or more. Back in the days of yore, before modern navigation, sailors would navigate in part by the stars in the night skies, in particular the North Star in the Northern Hemisphere, and various other constellations of stars in the night sky. In the Southern Hemisphere, sailors had to use different stars and the Southern Cross became quite well-known. Sailors would then tattoo nautical stars on them because they relied on the stars to take them home, and being superstitious, they hoped their star tattoos would get them home safely as well.


Compass stars are also popular for this reason. The nautical stars were originally used by sailors to help guide their way as they sailed through the night. They relied upon the stars to protect them and bring them home safely.

A lot of soldiers get nautical stars for the same reason... protection. It is a symbol of protection and guidance. It was a very popular tattoo among sailors.

So a case could be made that the nautical star tattoo, or a tattoo of any star for that matter, would be a symbol of guidance. Now as time has passed the nautical stars represent the direction of one's life, for those of us who are not sailors but still need guidance.

Some say that if the nautical star is pointed upwards they have a higher outlook on life and so on.

The meaning of the Nautical star is to create your own path, but use the stars as a guide when you are lost or scared.


Star Tattoos - Stars are often encountered as symbols, and many cases the meaning of a particular star symbol may depend upon the number points it has, and sometimes the orientation of these points as well. As a light shining in the darkness, the star is often considered a symbol of truth, of the spirit and of hope. The symbol of the star embodies the concept of the divine spark within each of us. Their nocturnal nature leads stars to represent the struggle against the forces of darkness and the unknown.


Stars with a specific design have taken on an explicit meaning and symbolism on their own.

Among the most well-know of these are the Pentagram (five-pointed star), the Nautical Star (five-pointed star), the Hexagram or Star of David (six-pointed star), all the way to the nonagram (nine-pointed star).
PentagramThe Pentagram - In the case of the Pentagram, the star's symbolism is dramatically altered by it's orientation, in which case the Pentagram points up or down. A downward facing Pentagram was thought to mimic a Ram's Head and was thought to be a sign of the Devil. In Celtic Lore the Pentagram was the sign of story-tellers and magicians, the five points a powerful symbol of protection and balance, shown here in its elemental form with the fifth element of Spirit taking its proper place above the four manifest elements. This pentagram incorporates the oriental yin-yang symbol to emphasize its harmonizing nature.

The Nautical Star - see Nautical Star.

The Hexagram or six-pointed star, is a potent symbol of the interaction of the Divine with the mortal, of God with Humankind. It has particular significance in Judaism as the Star of David.

Star of DavidThe Star of David, or magen David ('Shield of David'), is a strong symbol of Jewish identity, and as a hexagram it represents the interaction of the Divine with the mortal. It gets its name from the tradition that David carried a hexagram-shaped shield during his defeat of the giant Goliath. It has strong links with the Kabbalah, and is sometimes known as the Seal of Solomon or the Creator's Star.

When the Star of David is called the Creator's Star, the six points each represents a day of the week and the center corresponds to the Sabbath. It is a strong symbol of Jewish identity, and remained so even during the days of Nazi persecution when Jews were forced to wear a yellow hexagram as an identifier. The Star was incorporated into the flag of the State of Israel in 1948.

The Septagram or seven-pointed star is a symbol of integration and the mystical due to its links with the number seven. It is associated with the seven planets of classical astrology and to other seven-fold systems, such as the Hindu chakras.

The Octogram or eight-pointed star is a symbol of fullness and regeneration, and is linked to eight-fold systems such as trigrams, the pagan wheel of the year and the Ogdoad of ancient Egypt.

The Nonogram or nine-pointed star is a symbol of achievement and of stability, though this is a stability that is subject to change. It can also be related to nine-fold systems, such as the nine Taoist kanji (psychic centers) which are similar to the Hindu chakras.

Great subject, i've thought about this myself alot.

I designed a venus pentagram (star) with a mars symbol within and got it inked recently.

I can post a link to a picture if anyone is interested.

Sure; I'd love to see it.

SoulDarkness has a really cool tattoo; I remember looking at it on a thread he started. Too bad he removed the image; it wasn't a star, but it stuck in my head.

I'd love to see yours, too.

you prob know that venus makes a pentagram in the sky?