Tribal Tattoos: What Exactly Is a Tribal Tattoo?

Tribal tattoos have become quite popular over the last two decades, but what exactly are they? This may seem like a strange question, but the fact is, nowadays almost any kind of tattoo can be called "tribal." If you don't believe this, do a search and you'll find listings such as tribal zodiac tattoos, tribal flower tattoos, tribal fairy tattoos, etc. Are these really tribal tattoos, or has the term lost all meaning?

Strictly speaking, tribal tattoos refer to traditional symbols used by cultures in their own tattoo practices. The Maori, for example, are one of the earliest cultures to use tattoos and their symbols are definitely tribal. Other tribal tattoos include those from Polynesian and Native American cultures.

What about Celtic Tattoos? They are also very popular, especially Celtic knotwork, Celtic crosses and zoomorphic images of animals and mythical creatures. Celtic tattoos are often referred to as tribal, which is not wrong. People in the Western world tend to think of "tribes" as non-European cultures, but in fact the Europeans of the pre-Medieval world had a tribal culture. So many of the tattoo designs that come from Celtic, Viking, Germanic and other older European traditions can be considered tribal.

Another question that might come up is, what's the difference between a tribe and a culture? For example, Chinese symbols have become quite popular and are often grouped as tribal tattoos, but you don't usually hear of the Chinese, even in ancient times, as being tribal. What this really gets into, if you study history or anthropology at all, is that so-called advanced civilizations are usually called cultures or, well, civilizations, and supposedly primitive, less technologically advanced cultures are usually called tribes. So some of this might be called prejudice, although today the word "tribe," whether it's about tattoos or music, has been enjoying a new respect. But the bottom line is, if you have a tattoo that represents a traditional cultural symbol, whether it hails from China, Ireland, Australia or Hawaii, it's really up to you whether you want to call it tribal or not.

What about tattoo designs like zodiac symbols, fairies, dragons, etc? Well, these are not really tribal tattoos technically, as they are not associated with any specific tribe or culture. Many cultures believed in dragons, but having a dragon tattooed on your arm does not connect you with any one tribe in particular. Some may argue with this logic. For example, there are particular types of dragons, such as Welsh or Chinese, so if you've done your research and come up with an image associated with one particular place, maybe you can call it tribal.

As you can see, when it comes down to it, you end up splitting hairs and getting into fairly technical arguments when it comes to what is really tribal or not. I don't really think this is very important. I'm only discussing it because the term "tribal tattoo" has become so common and I feel many people wonder what it really means. The short answer is, Tribal tattoos are images or symbols that can be traced back to a specific tribe or cultural heritage. Some tribal tattoos are obvious and beyond argument; others might spark disagreements. What's really important is not whether your tattoo is authentically tribal, but what it means to you.