By: Jullienne Cook

Lots of debates focus on the meaning associated with nautical star tattoos, and the interpretation often varies with the user. This actually caused an increased significance level according to the person who used it and depending on the context. Sailors were the ones to set the tradition of nautical star tattoos as they had their superstitions and fears getting lost at sea or seeing their end away from the land. Thus the north star was seen as the home symbol and the silent promise that they'll find their way or path in life. Such nautical star tattoos clearly stand for good fortune and return home in perfect conditions.

The groups who have predominantly adopted nautical star tattoos are the military, lesbians and gays as well as punk rockers, but taken separately they all attribute distinct meanings to the symbol. For those in the army, the nautical star tattoos mean pretty much the same thing as for sailors; the military are also looking or waiting for their return home. The lesbian connections with the nautical star tattoos are about choices. Back in the 1940s and 1950s, non-heterosexual orientations were not regarded as freely as they are today and, lesbians would tattoo the nautical star on the wrist inside where a watch could camouflage it very well, but in the evening when they went out, the tattoo could be seen and identified by people with similar orientations.

Punk groups express their standing apart from the group by using the nautical star tattoos. With the same hints to the North star, these tattoos point to personal efforts to find one's path in life even if that being a weirdo. With punk groups nautical star tattoos are often identified in the hand sleeve area or in combination with other designs. Yet, the choice of a nautical star doesn't have to be connected with pertaining to one group or another, as it can simply be a matter of liking or disliking a design. The preference for one tattoo or another is highly personal and it should stay as such.

One interesting aspect remains the denial of the symbolic charges of the nautical star tattoos; thus, the military often debunk and deny all the possible associations with gay or lesbian groups. Yet, other people wear such tattoos in total ignorance of the symbolic charge. All in all, the truth is that nautical star tattoos are part of a tradition that is far from dying out.