Tattoos, from simple symbols to intricate designs, have been a feature of most cultures since the dawn of time. While tattoos were traditionally part of an elaborate rite of passage within a specific culture, tattoos have also served as a mark of royalty and rank, as symbols of spiritual and religious devotion, a mark of bravery and prowess in battle, as a sexual lure, a pledge of love, as punishment, as amulets and talismans for protection, and the mark of slaves, outcasts, and criminals.
What, then, are the best tattoo designs for men?
The most popular tattooing genre in the world today, is that of the tribal tattoo. Tribal tattoos reflect a man’s inner warrior. Tribal tattoos once marked individuals, both male and female, as members of a greater community and they were traditionally done as part of a larger, more elaborate rite of passage between adolescence and adulthood. The tattoo designs themselves were symbols that had important meaning within each community, tribal group, and culture. These tattoo designs were powerful symbols of recognition that identified members’ inclusion within the larger group. In Asian cultures, certain tribal tattoos are a personal history of accomplishments.
There were three major factors that took the practice of tribal tattooing from the realm of art and into the plane of the spiritual – pain, permanence, and loss of blood. These three elevated the tattoo from a mere art form and transformed it into a chance to draw people into a relationship with the gods, magic powers, or vision quest.
The term “tribal” covers an astonishing array of tattoo design possibilities, from the traditional tribal tattoos of indigenous and aboriginal cultures, to the latest in graphic design for the body. But whichever tattoo design it is, tribal tattoos rank among the best tattoo designs for men.