150 brilliant owl tattoo designs and their meaning (2023)

Are you looking for inspiration to tattoo an owl? We present some of the most amazing design ideas and explain the meaning behind them.

Of all the bird-themed tattoos, owls certainly rank among the top themes, along with hummingbirds and ravens.

These beautiful and mysterious creatures make truly exceptional tattoos, partly because they look great in almost any style, and partly because the owl symbol has a number of intriguing meanings attached to it.

In this article, we will look at the cultural significance of the owl to find out the meaning of owl tattoos.

We'll also cover some of the most popular owl-themed tattoo ideas and explore a great gallery of inspiring designs!

owl tattoo meaning

As a symbol, the owl is an important part of most of the world's cultural mythologies and belief systems.

Because of this, an owl design can mean a number of things, depending on the context in which the bird is depicted and, of course, the individual interpretation of the chosen tattoo design.

wisdom

Owls are primarily a symbol of wisdom, intellect, and the value of learning and knowledge.

We can easily observe this in modern day-to-day life: owls often appear in school-related designs, cartoon depictions of owls holding books or wearing glasses are also not hard to find.

One of the possible origins of this connection between owls and wisdom goes back to ancient Greece and the goddess Athena.

She was the goddess of wisdom who, according to Homer, lost her temper with her first bird, a raven, for being too frivolous.

Athena opted to replace the raven with an owl, seeing her as appropriately wise and serious.

The specific type of owl that became the symbol of Athena wasAthens is night(note the first part of the name...), the little owl.

This species of owl was widespread in Greece at the time, including in important places like the Acropolis.

Schutz

Owl tattoos can also signify protection and vigilance, as owls are often seen as symbols of these concepts, acting as guardians.

This symbolism, in turn, probably comes from ancient Greece: as a symbol of Athena, the owl was considered a protector that accompanied the Greek armies in war.

An owl flying over the soldiers before the battle was considered a sign of assured victory.

Greek coins (tetradrachms) at one time depicted Athena on one side and an owl on the other. The presence of the owl on the money was intended to control Athenian trade.

Some Native American tribes also viewed owls as a symbol of protection. For example, the Dakota Hidatsa people believed that the burrowing owl was especially a guardian spirit of warriors.

The Lenape Indians believed that to dream of an owl was to have an owl as a guardian.

In Japan, owls are believed to bring good luck and protection against disease. The Japanese word for owl,damn you, can be written in two ways: one literally means happiness, the other means protection.

This play on words has led to the popularity of owl decorations and good luck charms.

In Central Asia, the feathers on the chest and abdomen of the northern eagle owl were considered amulets that protected children and livestock from evil spirits.

Have hope

The owl's ability to see what we perceive as total darkness has created a connection between this bird and hope.

Another meaning of an owl tattoo is to stay positive, motivated and persistent at work to achieve your dreams and goals.

The basic association is that if an owl can find its way in total darkness, you too can find your way to your destination, even if the path is not yet visible.

Life after death

Like many nocturnal creatures, owls have associations with the concepts of darkness, death, and the underworld.

Therefore, owls in tattoos can also be a symbol of the afterlife, the soul and similar ideas.

Again, among the Native American tribes, many believed that owls had a connection to death and the afterlife. For example, the Apache Indians thought that dreaming of an owl meant imminent death.

There is also a tendency in some legends and mythologies to associate owls with souls in one way or another.

The Mojave Indians believed that individuals turned into owls at death, while the Newuk tribe had a more specific belief: the brave and virtuous turned into great horned owls at death, and the wicked turned into barn owls.

Highland Native Americans thought that the job of the great owl was to capture the souls of the dead and bring them to the underworld.

The Native American Hopi tribe believed that the burrowing owl was a symbol of the god of death and a protector of the underworld.

cross

Owl tattoos can also symbolize the transition from one phase of your life to another. The death they are sometimes associated with need not be a literal physical death; some people interpret this as "the end".

It could mean the end of a chapter in your life before the start of a new one, or a big change you have gone through, or are about to go through.

Just as owls protect the living and guide the dead, they are believed to guide us through change and transition.

magic

Owls have a strong connection to magic and the supernatural. An owl tattoo can signify a connection to the extraordinary, a belief, or a desire to believe, in realms beyond this.

This connection goes back to ancient mythologies and probably has a fairly simple origin: the night has always been a time when humanity has been equated with the unknown, the untested, the untested, and the mysterious.

Furthermore, the wisdom that owls are associated with includes notions of ancient knowledge that we have never had access to.

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For example, the ancient Romans believed that owls could bring curses and bad luck.

The way to counteract this evil was to kill an owl and nail it to the front door, hoping that the dead bird would offer protection against whatever misfortune it caused in the first place.

This strange custom lasted until the 19th century.^ºCentury - In English folklore, nailing an owl to a barn door would ward off evil and lightning.

In many parts of the world, as far away as Britain and Japan, owls were believed to be able to predict the weather and, in some myths, the future, based on their connection to the supernatural and their access to forgotten knowledge. .

nival owl tattoos

Snowy owls, as their name suggests, are mostly white, with some black feathers interspersed among the white ones.

In general, snowy owls have the same meanings as other owls in tattoos, although their white color serves to emphasize certain aspects of their symbolism.

White is the color of purity, innocence, spirituality and enlightenment. There is some overlap between these meanings and those of owls in general, but a white owl in particular is a symbol of enlightenment, understanding, and purity of spirit. It is also a symbol of perseverance and dreams and the ability to achieve our goals.

Owls in popular culture

Owls have become increasingly popular in Western culture in recent years, thanks to theharry potterfranchises where they excel as useful pets: mail and parcel.

Owl tattoos are popular withharry potterThe fan base is usually portrayed as being tied to the books or movies, with the owl depicted holding a letter or accompanied by others.harry potter- Thematic images such as magic wands or magical symbols used in the series.

The general symbolism of the owl in modern Western culture remains that of wisdom; particularly in cartoons and children's stories, owls are independent, intelligent, calm, and act as guides or advisers to other characters. They became symbols of education, learning and intelligence.

The sad truth is that research has shown that owls are no more intelligent than the average bird species: they exhibit no particular intellectual abilities and are actually second to corvids (crows and ravens) in the intelligence department.

popular design ideas

Owls are very distinctive and distinctive and lend themselves to almost any style of tattooing. Some of the most popular ideas are:

• watercolor– Although the plumage of owls is mainly in shades of gray and brown, colorful owl tattoos are particularly popular, depending on the species. This gives an abstract and artistic touch to the classic image of the night bird. Watercolor tattoos usually involve a sketch-style black outline with muted colors meant to resemble fresh watercolor.
• 3D– 3D tattoos are characterized by their photorealistic appearance. Skilled artists use careful shading and highlighting to make the tattoo look as realistic as possible. Owls do not present much of a challenge when it comes to creating a realistic image, but it is still advisable to choose an artist with proven experience in this style. The resulting tattoo will be attractive, unique and intricate - realism requires a lot of detail.
• Geometric– The geometric style is based on the use of straight lines and points that typically form perfectly symmetrical geometric shapes. Animals are very popular motifs for geometric tattoos. In this style, the owls are usually depicted from the front to allow the artist to create a symmetrical image.
• owl and clock tattoo– Since owls symbolize, among other things, transition, representation with something that points to the passage of time can underline this meaning. Hourglasses and pocket watches are popular choices.
• owl and stars tattoo– Since owls are nocturnal birds and are usually seen at night, it makes sense to feature them alongside stars in tattoos. This is especially true when we consider the symbolic meaning of the stars, that of achievement, excellence and dreams, and how well they complement the meaning of an owl design. This can work by having an owl and stars as two separate elements in one design, or by placing a night sky background behind the owl image.
• minimalist- Because owls are so distinctive, they're great for very small tattoos, which inevitably need to be relatively simple to look good once done. Tattooed entirely in black, sometimes with no more than several lines, these small owl tattoos fit almost anywhere, even spaces as small as a finger or the space behind the ear.

placement guide

One of the things that makes owls such great tattoo subjects is how distinctive they are. Even in the most sketchy, simple, and minimalist form, they are still recognizable as owls.

This means that an owl-themed design can technically be almost any size. We say "technical" because, of course, everything depends on the complexity and complexity of the intended design.

Intricate images with too much detail don't look good in too small a space and age poorly.

If you're open to the idea of ​​getting a large or medium-sized tattoo, consider appropriately sized areas such as your back, chest, biceps, thigh, or shoulder. The way the tattooed owl occupies space also influences the balance of the tattoo.

For example, if you want an owl body design on the back or chest only, you should choose an image of an owl flying with wings spread. The result is a horizontal design that combines very well with this type of space.

Small owl tattoos should be relatively simple, preferably all black with little to no shading. This ensures that the lines do not blur and merge during the tattoo or later when the tattoo begins to age.

Of course, a small tattoo can be placed almost anywhere, although it's worth considering if you like the visual effect of a lot of "empty space" (non-tattooed skin) around the design. Most of the people go for small areas for small tattoos, for example, wrist, neck or ankle.