Nautical tattoo ideas

139 photos and flash · 40% Traditional, 21% Fine line · Forearm most common

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Small black fine line compass rose tattoo on the upper chest of a woman wearing an open plaid shirt.
Compass rose on upper chest
Small black fine line anchor tattoo with a circle and cross motif on the inner forearm.
Small anchor with circle on a forearm
Black and grey traditional style tattoos on three fingers of a hand: an anchor, a sailing ship and a ship's wheel, with the ship placed on the middle finger.
Anchor, sailing ship and ship's wheel on fingers
Solid black anchor design with a rope coiled around the shank and a knot near the ring, shown as a flat stencil-style drawing on a white background.
Anchor with rope wrapped around the shank
Black ink ship's wheel with script reading Be the one to guide me, and an anchor with rope and script reading but never hold me down, tattooed on the thighs.
Ship's wheel and anchor thigh tattoos
Small black compass rose tattoo in fine line style on the inner wrist of a raised hand, against a cream knitted background.
Compass rose on the inner wrist
Black ink finger tattoos on a clenched hand showing a flower, a sailing ship, a ship's wheel, a palm tree and crossed arrows in a simple traditional style.
Nautical finger tattoos on a fist
Black and grey shaded drawing of a compass wrapped in twisted branches with a rope, a stylised anchor and a flying bird, shown as a tattoo design on a white background.
Compass, anchor and bird tattoo design
Fine line black ink drawing of an anchor design with a small crescent at the top, shown on plain paper with no body part visible.
Fine line anchor design on paper
Black and grey engraved anchor tattoo wrapped in rope, shown in a close-up photo of a limb.
Engraved anchor wrapped in rope
Black and white photo of a clenched fist showing a small fine line anchor tattoo on the inner wrist.
Small anchor tattoo on a wrist
Black line drawing of an ornate anchor with swirling filigree detail and coiled rope, shown as a flash design on a white background.
Ornate anchor with rope
Small solid black anchor tattoo behind a person's ear, shown in a black and white photograph.
Small anchor behind the ear
Black line drawing of an anchor with two crossed arrows on a plain white background, shown as a tattoo design without any body part visible.
Anchor with crossed arrows
Black and grey ship's wheel tattoo on the inner wrist beside a small black anchor tattoo on the other wrist, photographed against a dark background.
Ship's wheel and anchor on wrists
Black line drawing of a compass rose with N, E, S and W letters above an anchor, shown as a flash design with no body placement.
Compass rose and anchor design
Black and white photo of two bare heels, with a fine line compass rose on the left and a bold black anchor on the right, both placed near the ankle.
Compass and anchor tattoos on the heels
Close view of a forearm with a small solid black anchor tattoo above a thin outline triangle, in a minimal fine line style.
Anchor and triangle on a forearm
Black and grey traditional style tattoo of a rose, anchor and nautical star on the back of a woman's calf, shown in profile against a pink background.
Rose, anchor and star on a calf
Small black ship's wheel tattoo in fine line style on the inner ankle, with white trainers and grey leggings.
Ship's wheel tattoo on an ankle
Traditional style anchor tattoo with rope wound around the shank, shaded in grey and muted red, on the lower leg.
Anchor with rope on a calf
Two side-by-side photos of a traditional style compass rose on an inner wrist in black ink and an anchor wrapped in rope on a forearm in blue and grey shading.
Compass rose and anchor on forearms
Black and grey shaded tattoo of a ship's wheel with a coiled rope and anchor, with compass star points, on a person's upper back.
Ship's wheel and anchor on the upper back
Flash sheet of compass rose designs in black, grey, blue and colour, with a few small ornamental cross motifs, shown without any body placement.
Compass rose tattoo flash sheet
Black and grey realism anchor wrapped in rope with a compass rose behind it, tattooed on the side of the ribs.
Anchor and compass rose on the ribs
Traditional style flash sheet showing a red crab with a heart-shaped body, an anchor wrapped in rope with waves, a scallop shell and a conch shell.
Nautical flash sheet with crab, anchor and shells
A sleeping fawn pug puppy rests on a forearm with bold colour traditional tattoos, including a red rose, and letter tattoos across the fingers.
Pug puppy resting on traditional forearm tattoos
Blue line drawing of an ornate anchor with scrolled filigree and dotted detail on a textured paper background, shown as a tattoo design.
Ornate blue anchor design
Back view of a man in a white t-shirt showing a black traditional-style ship's wheel with a skull at its centre on his forearm, and a partly visible coloured tattoo on his upper arm.
Ship's wheel with skull on a forearm
Black and grey engraved drawing of an anchor with a twisted rope coiled around its shank, on a plain white background.
Anchor with rope wrapped around the shank
Hand-drawn black ink design of a ship wheel and an anchor with script lettering reading be the one to guide me and but never hold me down, drawn across a spiral notebook.
Ship wheel and anchor script design
Two matching black and grey forearm tattoos, one showing a ship's wheel with the words Be the one to guide me, the other an anchor with rope and the words but never hold me down.
Matching ship's wheel and anchor tattoos with script
Realistic colour tattoo across a back and shoulder, showing torn skin that reveals an old orange map beneath, with a blue compass rose at the centre.
Torn skin revealing a compass and old map
Cream line drawing of an anchor whose rope shank forms a treble clef, set against a navy background, showing a tattoo design rather than skin.
Anchor with treble clef rope design
Black line drawing of an anchor wrapped in a twisted rope, in a traditional nautical flash style, with no body placement shown.
Anchor wrapped in rope line drawing
Black compass rose tattoo with N, E, S and W lettering on the upper back near the shoulder, shown from behind.
Compass rose tattoo on upper back
Black linework compass rose with pink and blue watercolour wash clouds behind it, tattooed on a limb.
Compass rose with watercolour clouds
Close photo of two clenched fists with small black finger tattoos of a flower, a ship, a ship's wheel, a palm tree and crossed arrows, placed on the fingers.
Small nautical finger tattoos on a pair of fists
Black and grey tattoo of an anchor with a ship's wheel and compass rose at the centre, shown on a forearm.
Anchor, ship wheel and compass on a forearm
Flat navy anchor design with white rope coiled around the shank and crown on a plain white background.
Anchor with rope wrapped around the shank
Pencil drawing of a bearded skull wearing a peaked captain's cap with a star and laurel badge, with rope and crossed anchors below, shown as a tattoo design.
Skull in captain's cap with beard and anchor
Small black line tattoo of a ship's wheel, an anchor and a wave on the outer ankle, shown in two photographs.
Ship's wheel, anchor and wave on ankle
Fine line black outline tattoo of a rope-wrapped anchor above the words 'I refuse to sink.' on the inner forearm near the wrist.
Anchor with rope and 'I refuse to sink' on a wrist
Black and grey shaded tattoo of a life ring with a coiled rope on the inner forearm near the wrist.
Life ring with rope on the wrist
Black ink drawing of a compass rose with an arrow and ribbon, shaded in stippled dotwork on a white background.
Compass rose and arrow design
A black and white flash sheet of nautical designs including anchors, a lighthouse, a whale, a compass star, a ship's wheel, a sailing boat and a sailing ship.
Nautical flash sheet of anchors, waves and ships
Small black and grey compass rose tattoo on the back of a hand, resting on a dark leather surface, with a ring on the adjacent finger.
Compass rose on the back of a hand
Brown ink drawing of a compass rose with a ship's wheel and anchor at its centre, shown on a cream notebook page, styled as a traditional nautical tattoo design.
Compass rose with ship's wheel and anchor