Black and grey tattoo of two swallows above the Roman numerals XVIII IX MMX on the upper arm, with a script tattoo partly visible at the top right.

Two swallows and Roman numerals on upper arm

Traditional · Upper arm · Black and grey · Photo

Two swallows in flight face each other, drawn with fine outlines and grey shading on the wings and bodies. Below them sits a line of Roman numerals, XVIII IX MMX, in plain black serif capitals. The photo is taken close up and at an angle along the upper arm, with a cropped script tattoo visible at the top right and a soft, neutral background.

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 Tomas, the swallows came back to the boathouse on the eighteenth, same as they did the year you left, so I've decided it's a sign and I'm not taking it back. There are two of them this time, and one has a torn tail. She sits on the lintel above the big doors like she's waiting for the post. I've been feeding her crumbs from the step. Mam says that's how you know a bird has decided to stay.

Keep reading

The Harbour Board wants the old slipway for the new cable station, and they've sent a man with a tablet who calls our boats 'legacy assets'. Mr Okafor from the net loft laughed at him and then shook his hand, which I don't think the man understood was a joke. Dad's rowing boat is still under the tarp where he left it, with the date painted on the transom in his square capitals: XVIII IX MMX. He always said a thing with a date on it has to be used or it rots.

Here is what I need you to do. The Board has offered to buy the boat for scrap, at a price that would pay for a new engine. Don't let them have it. Come home on the next spring tide and row it out past the breakwater yourself, with me in the stern, and let the swallows follow us out to the buoy. Then we can say we did it properly, the way he would have wanted.

Write back with a date. I'll keep the lamp lit on the wall.

More like this

Black and grey Roman numerals XXIV.X.VIII tattooed in a lettering style across a forearm.
Roman numerals on a forearm
Small black silhouette tattoo of a flock of birds flying in a line across the inner forearm, in fine line style.
Flock of birds on the inner forearm
Two lines of black Roman numeral lettering in a serif font across the inner wrist of a hand held palm up.
Roman numerals on the inner wrist
Black and grey tattoo of two crossed arrows with feathered fletching on the inner forearm, shown near the wrist.
Two crossed arrows on a forearm
Black serif Roman numerals reading IX XXVI MMXII tattooed in a single line along the side of a ribcage.
Roman numeral lettering on the ribs
Black and grey realism tattoo of a soaring hawk with spread wings, placed on the upper chest near the collarbone.
Soaring hawk on the upper chest
Fine line tattoo of birds in flight rising up a forearm beside the word faith in cursive script.
Birds in flight and faith script on a forearm
Photograph of a large back tattoo of a black bird in flight and red flower splashes, with loose grey wash and fine linework on the upper back and spine.
Bird and red flowers across a back
Black and grey tattoo of three flying bats on the side of a neck, behind the ear, with shaded wings and bodies.
Three bats flying across the side of a neck
Black and grey tattoo of birds lifting from a shaded feather with the words Time to let go, across the lower back.
Birds and feathers with script on a lower back
Black and grey shaded swallow tattoo with the word Dad in script beneath it, on the inside of a wrist.
Swallow and script word on wrist
Small black fine line feather above the Roman numerals VII, XIV and XIII, tattooed on the inside of a wrist.
Feather and Roman numerals on a wrist

From the plentytattoo archive, uploaded by a user. Is this your work? Ask for credit or removal.