250+ Tribal Tattoo Designs with Meanings (2024)

Do you know that Tribal tattoos were a popular part of many African and Native American tribes? They remained popular for centuries and even today men and women love to get tribally tattooed on their bodies.

The reason why people prefer to ink their body with tribal designs is simple – you can design any symbol, sign, animal, or bird in tribe form. It is hard to choose the best tribal tattoo designs because this form of tattoo art has infinity designs.

Here we give you 250+ cool ideas for tribal symbol tattoos with meanings.

Small Tribal Tattoo

1. Isn’t this the cutest tribal art tattoo you will ever see? A beautiful tribal heart tattoo design on the wrist.

Tribal totem pole tattoo design

2. Matching tribal designs is hard to ink as they have very complicated designs.

Tribal tattoo on arm half sleeve

3. Probably the best tribal tattoo for men would be a sleeve tattoo design. Here is a guy with a tribal sleeve inked on his forearm.

Draw a tribal cross design

4. Tribal designs are mostly made from black ink but you can use other colors (preferably red) to outline your tribal cross tattoo.

Dragon tribal design for the body

5. Probably the most popular tribal animal tattoo is of the dragon. This is because they have sharp wings and body structures making them look unique and beautiful.

Tribal tattoo design on the back

6. When you look for cool back tattoos for guys you will find many awesome designs of tribal back tattoos. I would highly recommend a tribal upper back tattoo like this.

Simple tribal designs to draw

7. The beauty of these tattoos lies in the fact that you can have any kind of design in tribal style and it will never look ugly.

Half sleeve cover-up tattoos for men

8. This anchor tribal tattoo will suit mostly sailors and navy men. You can find out a lot more about anchor tattoo designs.

Skull tribal design on the upper arm

9. Tribal tattoo does not hurt much. However, they require extra attention for the tattoo artists.

Dagger with Flower tribal design for women’s legs

10. If you want a tattoo on your foot then I would recommend trying a tribal design. You can read and learn about Maori culture and how it popularized Maori tattoos. Check out this Wikipedia page on Maori Culture.

pictures of tattoos on arms

Geometrical tribal tattoo on the back

Polynesian tribal design on armband

African tribal patterns and meanings

Filipino tattoo designs and meanings

American traditional half-sleeve tattoos

Polynesian half-sleeve tattoo designs

Traditional African patterns and designs

Tribal design tattoo on the woman’s back

Celtic tribal tattoos on the arm

Peacock tribal tattoo designs

Flowers tribal design for both hands

Easy to draw tribal tattoos

Shoulder Tribal Tattoo for Guys

11. The best shoulder blade tattoos for guys are ones that have multiple designs in them and yet they occupy less space. This tribal design tattooed on the shoulder has multiple subtle tattoos including koi fish, yin yang, and infinity tattoo.

12. You might have seen colorful butterfly tattoos but in my opinion, tribal butterfly tattoo designs look unique and beautiful. You can add flowers or ribbon to this design. Try it on the shoulder and you won’t be disappointed. You can modify any animal or bird drawing into tribal art.

13. This complex tribal tattoo design has a lizard at the center but I would suggest you have a dragon instead.

14. Most people prefer to have tribal tattoo sleeves on arms but I would suggest you try calf tribal sleeves.

15. Lizard or reptile tribal tattoos are not much popular and that is why you can give them a try for a unique look.

Tribal tattoo Patterns For Females

16. Modern Tribal tattoo patterns can improve the look, quality, and meanings of any tattoo design. Look at this picture of a rose tattoo enhanced by a simple color tribal tattoo.

17. You can also try temporary tribal tattoo designs like this.

18. This crow tattoo design would not have looked good if there was no tribal design surrounding it.

19. Tribal tattoo designs are best for cover-ups and you can cover up any birthmark or tattoo gone wrong.

20. Tribal bracelets or armbands tattoo designs are very common and they look better if you do not have any other tattoo on your body.

Tribal Armband Tattoo Designs

21. Solid Black Armband Tattoo will have a unique meaning. It will symbolize that you have lost someone near and dear, and the tribal armband tattoo is in their memory. You can try it on the wrist or forearm.

22. If you are having a tribal design on your wrist or forearm or calf then make sure the design is evident on every side.

23. Cat does not look as good as a dragon in tribal art but if you want one then make sure it is in small size.

24. This amazing tribal dragon tattoo design on the thigh of this girl is very popular on the internet.

25. People do not choose tribal fish tattoos are they do not give a unique look but I bet an ocean and shark tribal or whale tribal will look amazing.

Tribal Wolf Tattoo Designs

26. I have always loved tribal wolves’ designs. You can either try wolf print or make it even more interesting with lion and wolf, Nordic wolf, or just a feminine wolf head outline tattoo like this.

27. Here is a tiny and subtle tribal moon tattoo design.

28. Instead of going for a tribal animal you can opt for a tribal paw tattoo design of your spirit animal.

29. Another Popular design is the tribal phoenix tattoo. The phoenix represents strength, struggle, and rebirth. It will suit on guys and women who consider themselves stronger than their problems.

30. People love to have zodiac and Horoscope tattoo designs. If you have a Scorpio zodiac then a tribal black scorpion tattoo on hand will look meaningful. Horoscope tattoos can also be tried on the neck as many tribes associate it with good luck. (Pro Tip – You can add a rose to this design and it would represent beauty with thorns).

Ancient Hawaiian Symbols and Meanings

31. There are more than 50 traditional Hawaiian tattoo designs with different meanings. The Hawaiian tribes and families heavily focused on tattoos. It was a tradition among the family to have matching tribal Hawaiian tattoos. The most popular was the Ohana symbol tattoo (similar to an infinity tattoo) which represented eternal love.

32. This tribal design is inspired by the Sikh culture and it looks impressive.

33. Tribal sleeve tattoos are equally popular among girls and here is a woman showing her beautiful half-sleeve tribal design tattoo.

34. Owl and Eagle are the two most popular birds with unique tribal looks. You can try a tribal snowy owl tattoo or a traditional evil owl design.

35. Here is a unique tribal armband and you can give it a try if you have thick biceps.

Unique Tribal Tattoos For Women

36. A popular idea for tribal design is to have it on the back shoulder and thus cover both, the shoulder and back.

37. Tribal designs are often mixed with Aztec, Maori, and Polynesian culture tattoos.

38. If you are new to tribal culture then I would suggest you have a small tribal tattoo like this.

39. This tribal fish tattoo design has Japanese and Chinese symbols too in it.

40. It is hard to have a tribal design on knuckles or fingers but there is no doubt that they look attractive.

Tribal Chest Tattoo Designs For Guys

41. This tribal tattoo design is related to Dwayne The Rock Johnson’s famous chest tattoo. The Rock revealed in an interview that this tribal design represents strength and courage. It runs in the family. Roman Reigns (cousin of Dwayne Johnson) also has a similar Samoan tribal design on his chest.

42. Tribal chest arm tattoos have found their own fan base among tattoo lovers. People get tattooed with tribal designs that begin from the chest and extend either up to half sleeve or to full sleeve arms.

43. The second most popular body part for tribal tattoos is the chest. Here is a complicated yet meaningful tattoo design on the chest of this man.

44. Several tattoo artists design the tribal tattoo in such a way that it shows the proportion of your body mass and body fat.

45. Instead of going for a full sleeve tattoo, I would suggest you go for the half sleeve.

Tribal Leg Tattoos For Girls

46. Lower body parts especially the legs are best for tribal designs. You can either try a black band (similar to an armband) or a Hawaiian tribal tattoo. Here this guy opted for a Polynesian tribal tattoo on his leg.

47. It is hard to give a 3D look to a tribal tattoo but a smart tattoo artist can do it with ease. I have seen several experienced tattoo artists inking amazing 3d tattoos in tribal style.

48. If you want a unique tribal animal tattoo then try lion, tiger, bear, seahorse, or Elephant.

49. Here is a mix-up of wolf tattoo and dreamcatcher tattoo with tribal drawing.

50. Never try a tribal design on the rib cage or stomach as it will cause a lot of pain. This guy tried a tribal seahorse tattoo you can also go for a tribal turtle tattoo design.

American traditional tattoo sleeve

Tattoo designs on paper

American traditional tattoo eagle

Money Power Respect tattoo design

Past Present Future tattoo

Indian tattoos and meanings

what type of tribal tattoo should I get?

If you are confused, try a simple tribal design. This way even if you don’t like it in the future, you can wrap around it with other designs. The below flower tattoo is a good choice as it’s subtle and not related to any specific culture.