Heart Tattoo Meaning
The heart is one of the most searched tattoo meanings in America. It always speaks of love — but the way it is drawn decides whether that love is joyful, lost, betrayed or sacred.
Love and life
The heart has stood for love, courage and the center of a person's life for thousands of years. A simple heart is a statement of love — for a partner, a child, a parent — or of living from the heart.
The anatomical heart
A realistic anatomical heart, with arteries, veins and muscle, is about life itself and about honesty: love shown as it really is, without decoration. It is a favorite subject of black and grey realism and is often combined with flowers, roots, clocks or architecture growing out of it.
Broken heart and heart with a dagger
A cracked or broken heart stands for loss, grief or a relationship that ended. A heart pierced by a dagger is a classic of American traditional tattooing: love that hurts, betrayal, or the courage to keep loving through pain.
Heart with a banner, lock or wings
A heart with a banner carries a name — the old sailor's "Mom" tattoo is the best-known example. A heart with a lock and key speaks of love that only one person can open. A winged heart speaks of freedom, or of the memory of someone who has died.
The sacred heart
A heart with flames, thorns and a cross is the Sacred Heart of Jesus, a Catholic symbol of divine love. It has its own meaning and its own guide on this site.
Hearts in black and grey realism
An anatomical heart needs room for its vessels and depth, so it usually sits on the chest, the forearm, the upper arm or the thigh. Small symbolic hearts work almost anywhere — the finger, the wrist, behind the ear.
Heart Tattoo Questions
What does a heart tattoo symbolize?
Love, life and courage; the details — a crack, a dagger, wings, a banner — add loss, pain, freedom or a name.
What does an anatomical heart tattoo mean?
Life itself and love shown honestly, without decoration.
What does a heart with a dagger mean?
Love that hurts, betrayal, or the courage to keep loving through pain.