Nautical Star Tattoos
Lots of debates focus on the meaning associated with nautical star tattoos, and the interpretation often varies with the user. This actually led to different way of interpretation according to the user and taking context into account as well. Historically speaking nautical star tattoos were a characteristic of sailors, who had their superstitions and fears about being lost at sea or seeing their end away from the land. Thus the north star became the home symbol and the silent promise that the person will stay on the right path in life. Such nautical star tattoos clearly stand for good luck and the chance to get home in the best of conditions.
Punk rockers, military groups, gays and lesbians are the ones to use the nautical star tattoos as symbols or logos, but taken separately they all attribute distinct meanings to the symbol. For the military, the nautical star tattoos mean pretty much the same thing as for sailors; the military look forward to their return home. The lesbian connections with the nautical star tattoos are about choices. In the 40s and 50s, when people didn’t have that much liberty to show their alternative orientations, lesbians would tattoo the nautical star on the inside part of the wrist where it could be easily camouflaged by a watch, but in the evening when they went out, the tattoo could be seen and identified by people with similar orientations.
Punk groups express their standing apart from the group by using the nautical star tattoos. With the same hints to the North star, these tattoos point to personal efforts to find one’s path in life even if that means being different. Many full sleeve tattoos that are so common among punk rockers also include a nautical star, the elbow area is otherwise preferred for the decoration. Yet, the choice of a nautical star doesn’t have to be connected with pertaining to one group or another, as it can simply be a matter of liking or disliking a design. The preference for one tattoo or another is definitely subjective and it should stay as such.
One interesting aspect remains the denial of the symbolic charges of the nautical star tattoos; thus, the military often debunk and deny all the possible associations with gay or lesbian groups. Yet, other people wear such tattoos without even giving them a meaning other than their personal liking for the design. The thing that stays valid is the presence of nautical star tattoos in different moments in the history of mankind, which no one can deny.
Add comment January 7th, 2009