Orange and black traditional tattoo of a phoenix with spread flame wings above a triangle and circle motif on a person's upper back.

Phoenix over triangle and circle on upper back

Traditional · Back · Mixed · Photo

A stylised phoenix with outstretched flame-like wings sits above a black outlined triangle, circle and vertical line motif. The bold black outlines are filled with flat orange and red shading on the bird and wings, with the triangle left as solid black line work. The tattoo is centred on the upper back below the shoulder blade, with a plain background of skin and a dark top at the bottom of the frame.

Traditional Back Phoenix Bird Flame Wing Triangle Circle Line Symbol

Find an artist for this

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

Dear Tomasz,

Keep reading

The kiln went cold on Tuesday, and I have spent three days pretending that was the worst thing to happen on the Sallow Wells road. The wind came in off the flats before dawn and took the corrugated roof clean off the shed, and in the morning I found the old marks scratched into the concrete footing under the sand: the triangle, the ring and the upright line that Father cut into every pontil he ever made. You remember them. He said they were for the sun, the pass and the thing that stays standing between.

I am writing because I have decided to fire it again. The shop in Barstow will pay for the bowls if they come out clear, and they will not come out clear unless the glory hole is hot enough to make the copper run. So I cut a new steel door, dragged the propane tank out from under the tarp, and last night I sat by the furnace with a bottle and watched the glow climb the wall the way it used to when you were small and fed the fire with split mesquite.

Here is what I have not told anyone. When the flame finally caught this morning it went up in a shape like a bird unfolding its wings, orange at the edges and darker at the root. The truckers pulling in for diesel stopped and stared at it through the window. Nobody spoke. One of them crossed himself. I think they knew it was only gas and draught, but they wanted something to be rising out of the ash, and so did I.

Come home when the heat breaks. Bring the big tongs. I will leave the gate open on the road.

Love, Ines