Nautical Star Tattoos on Wrist

Nautical star tattoos on wrist were once associated with the controversial meaning of one being a homosexual. However, these days, this meaning is considered to be irrelevant and people take nautical star tattoos on the wrist as a fashion statement. The article provides a brief information on these nautical star tattoos and their meanings.
Wrist tattoos have always been a favorite in the circle of tattoo lovers. And nautical star tattoos are some of the simple tattoos with deep symbolic meanings. The meaning of a nautical star tattoo has always been a topic of discussion. These tattoos originated from the sailor group, whom the nautical star guided through the night. These tattoos have also been associated with punk stars. But nautical star tattoos on the wrist are also related to a popular belief of a person being gay or lesbian. Before moving on to know why nautical star tattoos on the wrist is associated to homosexuality, let us know other meanings related to nautical star tattoos.

Nautical Star Tattoos: Original Meaning

A nautical star is a five armed star with each arm divided into two symmetric sections. These symmetric sections of each arm are colored with alternate colors. The very first group of individuals to tattoo themselves with a nautical star, was the sailor group. Long back, sailing was considered as a very life-threatening job, due to very less equipment available for directions and safety, especially during the night. These people used to completely rely on a star in the North direction, for navigation in the night. This particular star was the North Star, as we know it today. This star stays at the same position for a long period of time, that is in the north direction and hence, the sailors could rely on this star for directions. Thus, the sailors could easily navigate in the sea with the help of this star and that is why they named it as nautical star. Sailors started tattooing this nautical star as a form of lucky charm, which they believed will provide them a safe trip home. This is considered to be the original meaning of a nautical star, but with time the nautical star tattoo meanings changed gradually.

Nautical Star Wrist Tattoos

With the arrival of 20th century, nautical star tattoos started getting different controversial meanings. The society that belonged to this century had not accepted the homosexuality concept and the people who were homosexuals had to hide their preferences. Somehow, lesbian women started getting nautical star tattoos, as an indication of their orientation. Wrist was chosen for a nautical start tattoo because of the ease of hiding. In day time the star was hidden using cloth and accessories and at night, it was left open to communicate the point. The origin of this concept is not yet clear, but as time passed, a nautical star tattoo on wrist became the symbol of homosexuality. By the end of 20th century, as gay and lesbian community started to be accepted by the common people, this meaning of nautical star disappeared. And these days, a nautical star tattoo on wrist is a mere fashion statement.

Wrist tattoos are some of the smallest and prettiest tattoos. Though wrist is a very small place, you can get beautiful tattoos on it, with detailed designs. Usually, the tattoos used for wrist are simple and cute. Many people who want to hide their tattoos with full sleeves, usually go for wrist tattoos. Even some employers do not allow their employee to bear any type of body art, hence, if you are working for such an employer, then a wrist tattoo is the right choice, as you can hide it with full sleeved shirts and other accessories.

Nautical star tattoo being a simple, symmetric and small in size tattoo, fulfills all the requirements of a wrist tattoo. A wrist tattoo can be placed on the inner wrist, upper wrist or can encircle the complete wrist area, in the form of bracelet like design. There are not many variations in the design, that one can make with a nautical star tattoo on wrist. But one needs to keep in mind, that wrist is a very sensitive area due to very less padding and hence, wrist tattoos are quite painful. Moreover, wrist tattoos take longer time to heal due to high movements. You may require to retouch the wrist tattoo, since wrist is an area with very high exposure.

This was a summary on nautical star tattoos on wrist. With so many debatable meanings related to the nautical star, one may get confused while choosing this tattoo design as a body art. But you should also consider other meanings of nautical star like, lucky charm, desire to be a star, strength, protection, etc.
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Last Updated: 9/29/2011
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