Angel Tattoo Designs

Thanks to the longstanding popularity of angel tattoos, there are thousands of angel tattoo designs to choose from. On the one hand, angel tattoos combine powerful images with powerful, often deeply personal meanings. On the other, they’re simply attractive, and can be cute and humorous too.

In other words, from dark and dramatic angels to cute and cuddly cherubs there’s an angel tattoo design for everyone. The starting point to choosing the perfect design for you is to decide which type of angel you want. There are several types, each with different meanings.

Meaning of angel tattoo designs

Angels are spiritual or divine presences that inhabit our world for different purposes.

• The most well-known and loved are guardian angels – personal protectors and guides.
• Archangels are heavy in religious symbolism – the top rank of angels responsible for fighting evil. They are often depicted with a sword.
• Fallen or “devil” angels symbolize sin and a fall from grace – reminders of past mistakes or how easy it is to be led astray. They are often crouched head down to symbolize remorse and sadness.
• In the bible, cherubs are the second order of angels whose special gift is knowledge.
• “Cherub” also refers the cheeky winged babies from ancient mythology (“putti”) who symbolize peace, prosperity, and romantic love and lust (they are Cupid’s little helpers), as well as children.
• Sexy angels – nudes with angel’s wings – can represent the ideal woman or a real-life lover.

Good places for angel tattoos

Large, full-body angel tattoo designs can wrap down an arm or be placed centrally on the back or chest with wings spreading across the shoulder blades or pecs.

Head-and-shoulders angels can wrap round the arm like an armband, or be incorporated into a larger tattoo design.

Cheeky cherubs look great just about anywhere – on the shoulder, hip or chest. Because of their cheeky, romantic and lustful nature, somewhere intimate is a good choice too.

Ideas for making your angel tattoo unique

Once you know the type of angel you want and find some designs you like, there is plenty of scope for making your angel tattoo unique.

Bear in mind that the key to successful angel tattoo designs is to decide the “mood” of your angel – dramatic, powerful, remorseful, cheeky, romantic or sexy – and work from there.

For instance, for a dark and dramatic angel tattoo, black works great. With all the detailing of the feathered wings and robes, colour isn’t necessary for a powerful look. For added drama, guardian angels and archangels can be armed with swords.

With cherub tattoos, emphasize their association with romance by adding hearts, names or initials, red roses and so on to the design, or boost the “cute factor” with tiny swords, halos, rainbows, butterflies – just about anything you like.

For an angel tattoo representing your lover you can modify the hair, eye color and so on of a design you like, and/or add their name or initials to the tattoo. Don’t forget to make sure your lover approves!

For cherub tattoos representing children you can do the same – change hair color, add names or initials, and so on. If you have more than one child, consider a pair or group of cherubs.

If ready-made designs for sexy angels don’t match your ideal, look at nude tattoo designs as well as angels then mix and match bodies and wings for a unique and perfect sexy angel.

You can exaggerate the most obvious and attractive feature of angels – their wings. Many tattoo designs feature nothing but the wings – stunning tattoos going right across the back – worth considering if wings are a large part of the appeal of angel tattoo designs.