Dragonfly Tattoo Designs
epending upon who you ask, dragonfly tattoo designs can symbolize everything from pure evil to strength and happiness. This is because the symbolic meaning behind the dragonfly has changed over the years and has been interpreted differently among different cultures.
Dragonfly tattoos represent strength and endurance. Use shades of one color for dramatic effect or a whole rainbow for a beautiful and striking tattoo design.
In Europe, the dragonfly was often seen as being sinister. In fact, the dragonfly has also been referred to as the “devil’s darning needle” in some European cultures. Many other cultures have also linked the dragonfly to the horse, with one Romanian folktale claiming that the dragonfly is actually a horse that became possessed by the devil.
According to Swedish folklore, the dragonfly was responsible of weighing people’s souls for the devil while another tells of how trolls used them as spindles when weaving clothes.
Many cultures also associate dragonflies with snakes, with one folk belief from the Southern United States being that dragonflies follow snakes around in order to stitch them together after they have been injured.
For most people, the dragonfly doesn’t carry such sinister connotations. In fact, many Native American cultures associate the dragonfly with swiftness and activity. Perhaps the most popular symbolic Native American meaning behind dragonfly tattoo designs, however, is that they symbolize renewal after facing a time of great hardship. In this way, your dragonfly tattoo can be deeply personal as it represents your strength to move forward after enduring a great deal of pain and anguish.
In Japan, the dragonfly represents strength, courage and happiness. This symbolic meaning falls in nicely with the Native American meaning of renewal, as moving forward after enduring hardship demonstrates that you are strong and courageous and ready to embrace happiness once more.
Dragonfly tattoo designs are particularly popular among women, with many finding the designs to be sexy and representative of being a free spirited individual. This is due to the fact that dragonflies inhabit both the air and the water, both of which are lands that humans cannot master. As such, they represent your desire to be free or to live in a land of fantasy. The fact that dragonflies hover here and there, always remaining in site while still being unattainable, also adds to the allure of dragonfly tattoo designs and their symbolic representation of freedom and independence.
If you plan to get a dragonfly tattoo, be certain to explore all of the design possibilities and colors, as dragonflies come in many different shapes and sizes. There are over 400 different species of dragonflies, each of which has its own unique design and colors.
If you are choosing a dragonfly tattoo design to represent overcoming hardship, you may want to choose a color for your dragonfly that represents what you went through or how your difficulties changed your life.
A red dragonfly, for example, can represent finding love or power within yourself. Blue, on the other hand, can represent finding peace while green can represent becoming wiser. Don’t be afraid to mix together different colors, as this can add interest to your design while giving it an even deeper symbolic meaning.
