Sailor's Tattoo -The Swallow, As Well As Bluebirds and Sparrows

The swallow, as well as bluebirds and sparrows, has always had a symbolic meaning for sailors because, before modern navigation technology, these birds were usually the first sign that land was near. A swallow tattoo for a sailor reflected his hope of coming home safely.

The swallow is a bird that chooses a mate for life. Therefore a swallow tattoo is also a symbol for love and loyalty to the family.

Other symbolic meanings in the same line:

* The return home after a struggle
* A hardship survived
* A victory gained.


Another fact is that swallows return home every year, no matter where they are. Every year, Mission San Juan Capistrano in California plays host to this wonder of nature. A flock of the tiny birds numbering in the tens or even hundreds of thousands descends upon the mission in a grand display of the workings of migration.


The origins of the swallow tattoo go back to a ship named The Swallow. At one time, the crew of the ship had a mutiny. In order to recognize each other, the 7 mutineers who started the mutiny had a swallow tattooed on their chest.

After that, the swallow tattoo was the tattoo design for sailors to show off their sailing experience. Every five thousand nautical miles (5750 miles or 9250 km), a sailor traditionally has a swallow tattooed onto his chest:

* Traveling over sea in the early years was a dangerous and difficult undertaking, so a sailor with one or two swallow tattoos was considered very experienced and therefore trustworthy and valuable.
* Legend has it that if the sailor does not survive his travels, and ends up drowning, the birds alight upon his soul and carry him from the murky waters, into Heaven's grasp...certainly a haunting image.
* Other occasions sailors used to get swallow tattoos:
o After sailing all 7 seas.
o After sailing around the horns (the bottom of Africa and South America).
o 1 swallow tattoo after crossing the equator and another one when coming back.