Traditional Anchor Tattoo

In American traditional tattooing the anchor is traditionally associated with stability, hope and staying grounded. Sailors and Navy personnel wore it as a sign of holding firm in rough water, and it is still one of the most requested nautical designs. According to sailor lore, an anchor also marked a sailor who had crossed the Atlantic.

Pairings change the story: with a rose it reads as love and commitment, with a heart as loyalty, with a swallow as a long voyage and a safe return, with a ship's wheel as steering your own course, and with a compass as finding your way. Some wearers also read a dropped anchor as security and a raised one as letting go. As with most traditional tattoos, the meaning varies from wearer to wearer.

• Anchor and rope — the classic: a rope wrapped around the shank, simple and bold.
• Anchor with banner — room for a name, a date or a word lettered by your artist.
• Anchor and rose — a red rose and green leaves at the crown of the anchor.
• Anchor and heart — a red heart above a banner, often used as a tribute.
• Anchor and compass — a compass rose behind the shank, for direction and homecoming.
• Anchor and ship's wheel — a wheel crossed with the anchor, a classic nautical pairing.
• Anchor with swallow — a swallow perched on the rope, for distance travelled and a safe return.
• Black and grey anchor — the same bold outlines with grey shading instead of color.

An anchor is tall and compact, which suits the forearm, wrist, calf, upper arm, shoulder and chest. Designs with banners or a compass are wider and sit well on the chest, shoulder or thigh. Keep the outline and flukes bold and the rope simple — very small anchors can lose the rope detail as the tattoo ages, especially below about 5 cm (2 in).

When you bring a flash design to your artist, they will adjust the size and composition to fit your body and redraw the stencil. That is normal and part of the craft.