Nautical tattoo ideas

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

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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
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
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 engraved anchor tattoo wrapped in rope, shown in a close-up photo of a limb.
Engraved anchor wrapped in rope
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 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
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
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
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
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 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
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
Traditional flash drawing of two compass roses with blackletter N, E, S and W labels, one in orange and red and one in teal and blue, on a tan background.
Two compass rose flash designs
Two matching forearm tattoos in black ink: a ship's wheel with the words 'be the one to guide me' and an anchor with 'but never let me down'.
Ship's wheel and anchor with matching quote tattoos
Black ink finger tattoos on two fists in a simple traditional style, showing a flower, a ship, a ship's wheel, a palm tree and crossed arrows.
Small nautical finger tattoos on two hands
Black and grey traditional anchor tattoo with a coiled rope wrapped around the shank, shown on the upper arm.
Anchor and rope on upper arm
Black and grey tattoo of an anchor wrapped in rope with a ship's wheel in the centre, on the forearm of a man in a white t-shirt.
Anchor, rope and ship's wheel on a forearm
Black and grey traditional-style tattoo of a lighthouse, ship's wheel and waves on the upper thigh, with a partly visible banner quote.
Lighthouse and ship's wheel on thigh
Pen drawing of a traditional-style anchor wrapped in rope, with a seagull, a ribbon banner reading family and blue water, shown as a design with no body placement.
Anchor and rope design with family banner
Black ink drawing of a compass rose with N, E, S and W letters above an anchor, shown on a plain white background as a flash design.
Compass rose and anchor design
Full arm sleeve in traditional style with a sailing ship, shark, swallow, pin-up and roses scattered with small stars, shown in three photographs on the upper arm and forearm.
Traditional nautical full arm sleeve
Colour traditional-style tattoo of a grey seagull perched on a rope-wrapped anchor, with the words fall out boy in black script below, on a forearm.
Seagull perched on an anchor with script
Black ink finger tattoos on a clenched fist showing a flower, a sailing ship, a ship's wheel, a palm tree and crossed arrows, in a traditional nautical style.
Nautical finger tattoos on a fist
Traditional flash drawing of a sailing ship inside a rope-edged star with an anchor behind it, shown on a stained paper background.
Nautical star with anchor and sailing ship
Two bare feet with a teal and black traditional anchor tattoo wrapped in rope on the left foot and a teal compass rose on the right foot.
Anchor and compass rose tattoos on both feet
Small black compass rose tattoo with N, E, S and W markings on a woman's upper back near the shoulder blade, with a waterfall behind her.
Small compass rose on a shoulder blade
Two black ink calf tattoos on a beach: a ship's wheel on a man's left leg and an anchor on a woman's right leg, each with script wording above and below.
Ship's wheel and anchor calf tattoos
Black and grey traditional compass rose with a rope-wrapped anchor on a shoulder and upper arm, with a small blue accent in the compass centre.
Compass and anchor on shoulder and upper arm
Pen and ink flash drawing of an anchor with a ship's wheel across its shank, shaded with hatching and stippling on dotted paper.
Anchor and ship's wheel design
Black ink drawing of a three-masted sailing ship riding interwoven waves, with a hanging anchor on a thin line, in a traditional nautical design shown on cream paper.
Sailing ship on waves with anchor
Black ink anchor tattoo on a forearm, with rope forming a heart around the shank and dotwork shading on the crown and lower chevron.
Anchor wrapped in a rope heart on a forearm
Two black and grey tattoos on the backs of a pair of hands, a compass rose on the left and an anchor with a ship's wheel on the right, in a traditional style.
Compass and anchor tattoos on the hands
Traditional-style tattoo of a red and white lifebuoy ringed by a dark chain outline, on the outer ankle of a foot resting in a pink flip-flop.
Red lifebuoy tattoo on an ankle
Close-up of a small grey traditional-style anchor tattoo on the neck behind the ear, with a white earphone cord visible.
Small anchor tattoo behind the ear
Black and grey pencil drawing of an anchor wrapped in rope with a ship's wheel on the shank, shaded with fine hatching and stippling, shown as a tattoo design with no body placement visible.
Anchor with rope and ship's wheel
Black and grey anchor tattoo with a rope coiled around it on a person's ribs, shaded in a traditional style.
Anchor and rope tattoo on the ribs
Black and grey compass rose tattoo with ornate N, E, S and W points on the inner wrist of a hand.
Compass rose on an inner wrist
Flash design of a ship's wheel and an anchor wrapped in rope, with script lettering reading Be the one to guide me but never hold me down, in black ink on a pale background.
Ship's wheel and anchor with quote lettering
Black and grey compass rose tattoo with swirling ornamental details on a woman's shoulder, shown beside her neck and chin.
Compass rose on the shoulder
Four views of a black and grey nautical full sleeve tattoo on an arm, showing an octopus, a skull, a ship's wheel and a compass star, placed from the forearm up to the upper arm.
Black and grey nautical full sleeve
Black and grey ink drawing of a ship's anchor wrapped in rope, with two crossed hatchet axes behind it, on a pale parchment-style background.
Anchor with crossed axes and rope