Nautical star

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This article is orphaned as few or no other articles link to it. Please help introduce links in articles on related topics. (April 2008)

This article does not cite any references or sources. (April 2008) Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unverifiable material may be challenged and removed.

This article is written like an advertisement. Please help rewrite this article from a neutral point of view. Mark blatant advertising which would require a fundamental rewrite in order to become encyclopedic for speedy deletion, using {{db-spam}}. (April 2008)

One of the most popular styles of star tattoo designs are nautical star tattoos. Nautical stars have a long history in the world of tattoo designs dating all the way back to the early sailors, specifically Sailor Jerry, and his many tattoo designs.

In those days, 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.

Nautical stars don’t have to have a great deal of significance to be appreciated for their beauty, simplicity, symmetry and ability to serve as a backdrop or an additional ornamental element of any tattoo. They can be patriotic, in the form of stars and stripes, or simply ornamental star tattoos.

Although these stars were once only popular with people who were in some way attached to the water, but as time went on, other groups, including gays and lesbians, punk rockers and those in the military, adopted the nautical star for their own purposes and as a very important symbol. The diversity of these groups has lead many to argue the meaning of their tattoos.

Many military people get a nautical star as a symbol for finding ones path home safely. Of course this can also include more symbolically just finding ones way in life.

You see many punk bands that have full sleeve tattoos typically incorporate nautical star tattoos either on their elbows or elsewhere. The punk movement traces its history and use of the nautical star back to Sailor Jerry. Sailor Jerry is historically one of the most famous tattoo artists ever. He was well known for his innovative and “cool” designs. Punks have taken this symbol and it has very much the same meaning of finding one way in life.

The lesbian and gay connection is the one that does not seem so obvious at first. Historically back in the 1940’s and 50’s when alternative lifestyles were not the norm and often women had to hide their alternative choices they would sport a hidden nautical star.

But despite some connotations of stars with alternative lifestyles, very few people view them from that perspective. Most people associate tattoos of stars with high achievement, persistence, or a striking and illuminating event in one’s life.

Whether you really are a sailor or maybe an astronomer, these tattoos don’t have to mean anything about who you are. In that sense, they are ultra modern abstract representations of beauty and stability. If you want your nautical stars to have deeper meanings, you can add variations to them. Some people even go as far as to add a skull with their tattoos. However even just a single star alone can make a powerful and dynamic statement of your being and future aspirations.

In modern day society this visual is almost considered common. It has been transformed into a pop culture statement. It has been said that the star itself is meant to represent "I", as in who "I" am as a person, whether in a statement of rebellion or a statement of individualism. Each point is said to repesent a different characteristic of own's personality that creates a whole personality or way of life. Each of the five points represent something different, one being independence, another integrity, another intuition, the next idealism and the last innovation, in no particular order.

thanks to: http://alltattoodesigns.wordpress.com