Drawing of a vintage engraved anchor wrapped in rope and set with coral roses and teal foliage, shown as a tattoo design on a plain light background.

Enlarged with AI from a smaller original

Anchor with roses design

Botanical · Mixed · Flash

A black ink engraved anchor is wrapped with rope and decorated with coral and peach roses, teal leaves and small blue flowers. The linework uses fine hatching and cross-hatching for shading on the anchor, while the flowers are softly coloured. The design is centred on a plain pale background.

Botanical Neo-trad Anchor Rose Flower Rope Leaves Nautical

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Take it to an artist as a reference. A good artist will make it yours rather than copy someone else's tattoo.

A story inspired by this tattoo · fiction

The band at the Pier Pavilion has run out of waltzes again, so they play the same foxtrot a third time, and you stand by the cloakroom hatch with your coat over your arm, watching the door as if it owes you money. Your brother said the Lively Lass would be in by six. It is gone nine.

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Dolores from the bakery sidles up with two glasses of lemonade and a look. She says the purser's boy asked after you on the landing stage, then decided he'd rather not be seen asking. You tell her to keep the lemonade for herself. Under the glitter ball, a sailor's cap is going round the floor on someone's head, and each time it catches the light you think it's him.

It isn't him. Near midnight a telegram comes up the stairs on a tray, and the caretaker reads it aloud before he thinks better of it, something about the harbour wall and a tide that didn't wait. Nobody dances after that. You take the anchor brooch from your collar, the one with the rope wound round its shank, and press it into your palm until the pin leaves a mark.

Then the lights come up, and at the back door, in a blue jersey soaked to the skin, Eddie stands holding a bunch of roses so crushed they have turned the colour of brick. He says the ship lost her anchor but kept her boy. You tell him that's a poor trade. He laughs, and the band, not knowing any better, strikes up the foxtrot again.