Heart tattoos are quite popular choices in the tattoo world. They are generally used to represent matters of the heart, like love and heartache. They can be basic designs with minimal detail, or they can have an array of colors and fine details like barbed wire or flowers wrapped around the heart. Although heart tattoos are generally used to signify love and happiness, they can have different meanings for different people.

Ancient Egyptians used the heart image to represent truth instead of love. There are some people that will follow this ideal. Their heart tattoos will signify certain truths they have experienced or faced. The Greek people used to use the heart image as the source of every thought and feeling. They would use heart tattoos to symbolize intelligence and emotional development.

These days, people use heart tattoos for many different representations. For most people the significance of the heart image is important; it is the icon of love and feelings associated with love. There are so many different variations of the heart tattoo to choose from. There are colorful hearts that have other images, like angels or birds, incorporated into the design.  There are also broken hearts that signify heartache or a lost love.

When deciding on heart tattoos, many people often choose the colorful designs. They will choose more open pictures so that they can add names that have sentimental significance. When trying to honor the memory of someone that died, most people will include “RIP” in the name and have this added to either the inside of the heart, or along the outside of the design.

Heart tattoos mean different things for different people. Creativity allows the heart design to have near universal qualities. You can choose heart tattoos to honor your mother, which is common for men, or you can choose ones that signify a special interest or hobby. For example, there are many heart tattoos from people in the health field and military services that will have things like stitches, the symbol for nursing, or even the particular symbol for the military service that the person served in.

Most recently, there have been a lot of new heart tattoos appear that have a special place in the eyes and memories of many Americans. These designs have included the phrase “9-11 We Will Remember” to honor the lives that were lost during this unforgettable terrorist attack.

There is no doubting the fact that most people do not get heart tattoos just because they like a particular design that they come across. Tattoos are considered an art form for many people, and although there are some really intricate and beautiful designs, there is a lot of significance for each individual person that leads them to choose a particular design. There are some people who will even comb through the Internet looking for images that they can use to make their heart tattoos completely original, which presents them with the opportunity to add more sentimental meaning to their purpose.