Rihannas Tattoos and Meaning

Pop star Rihanna tattoos total 14 as of now, and all of them are pretty awesome.  If you know anything about Rihanna, you know that she loves tattoos and hanging out in tat parlors and shops.  She even goes as far as to “study” people and their tattoos around the shops.

How Many Tattoos Does Rihanna Have?  15.

Pop star Rihanna tattoos total 15 as of now, and all of them are pretty awesome.  If you know anything about Rihanna, you know that she loves tattoos and hanging out in tat parlors and shops.  She even goes as far as to “study” people and their tattoos around the shops.

1All of Rihannna’s tats are fairly small and have meaning for the hip-hop and R&B superstar.  First, there is the music note tattoo on the front of Rihanna’s foot.  This tat was done around 2006 and appears to be her first.  Of course, her love and dedication to music was the influence for this first tat.  The treble clef staff is the first image tattoos on her ankle, and it is followed by a sixteenth note that is not filled in.  These sheet music symbols are tattooed on Rihanna’s right ankle / front of her foot.

2Rihanna’s second tattoo is a Pisces sign just behind her right ear.   The meaning behind this tat is Rihanna’s astrological sign.  Her birthday is on February 20, 1988 putting her in the sign of Pisces.   This tattoo was actually done by a famous Brazilian artist who was in Tokyo at the same time as Rihanna in or around 2006.  Lucky for her, because the tattoo artist who made this usually books three years in advance!  I guess he really like Rihanna’s style and inked her without any wait at all.  But hey, who wouldn’t.

3Next, her sexy-as-hell hip tattoo is a sanskrit prayer that stretches from just above her waist to the top of her butt on the right side of her body.  This sanskrit prayer tattoo is from the Sanatana Dharma (Hindu scripture) Bhagavad Gita 10.4-5 and is supposed to say something like “forgiveness, honesty, suppression, and control” but was apparently misspelled.   The translation of her tattoo actually reads:  “long suffering, truthfulness, self-restraint, inward calm, fear and fearlessness” and is missing the rest of the prayer which includes “pleasure, pain, birth, death.”  Apparently, a couple slight differences in the dots and shapes of the Hindu prayer make it translate wrong.  Oh well, I’m sure she is very happy with it and is not concerned over a few slight differences in pen strokes.  However, take a look at the photo of the artist who gave Rihanna this ancient sanskrit tat and say if you would trust him to get the text correct in such a tattoo.

4

A star tattoo in Rihanna’s left ear is said to be “prison style.”  That’s BS.  It is a unique, simple, tasteful, outline of star that is nestled in the top part of her ear.  Rihanna got this tat in the Village of NYC, apparently she just stopped in the parlor and wanted a tat.  This star tattoo in Rihanna’s ear was obvious difficult to get, a pain in the ass to ink, and it had to hurt like a mother!  But it sure looks pretty sweet.

5The Arabic tattoo on Rihanna’s ribcage read’s “Al Hurria fi Al Maseeh” which translates into “Freedom in God.”  It is placed on her left ribacge, just below her breast.  Being one of her more concealed tats, the arabic phrase must hold deep meaning to Rihanna, as it is not easily viewed by the public.

6Stars going down the back of Rihanna’s neck and onto the back of her right shoulder blade are super sexy!  These stars were started in Los Angeles.  This first part of the stars tattoo was limited to the back of Rihanna’s neck and consisted of small black stars and larger outlined stars, not going past her shoulders.  Later, tattoo artist Bang Bang added a trail of more stars, adding larger black stars and more of a variety of sizes.

7The cute and kinda girly skull tattoo on Rihanna’s left ankle is one of the few tats that Rihanna has containing color.  It was done during her Miami stay in 2008.  The red or pink bow on top of the cartoonish and rudimentary skull and cross bones really makes this adorable tat stand out.  Is it a feminine skull, girly skull, or cute skull?  You choose.

8

Rihanna had the word “Love” tattooed on the inside of the middle finger of her left hand.  Its not too fancy, but with a simple yet sophisticated italic font.  The Love finger tattoo was done in 2008 by one of her regular tat artists.  The meaning of this finger tattoo is kind of a mystery, but I have my ideas.  First, it would be way cool to flip somebody the bird and turn your finger to show some love.  Second, giving the peace sign while showing the love could be the inspiration behind this tattoo.  Why not give peace AND love?

9The Shhh… tattoo is another finger tat that Rihanna has on her right hand index finger.  It was done in June of 2008.  Of course it is printed on the outside of the finger, in order to allow her to Shhh… someone without having to say a word.  How awesome is that?!

10The date 4.11.1986 was also printed in a roman numeral tattoo on Rihanna in June 2008.  This date is her best friend and manager Melissa Forde’s birthday and is printed in Roman numerals.  The XI•IV•LXXXVI tatttoo is tastefully placed on her left shoulder.  Many people have thought that this tattoo could be Rihanna’s birthday or maybe Chris Brown’s.  Nope, her BFF Melissa.  Talk about a close friendship.  Now that’s dedication.

11Rihanna got her right hand geometric design tribal tattoo while in New Zealand during one of her tours.  It runs from her wrist, past her thumb, and towards her right index finger.  This exotic Maori-inspired hand tat represents strength and love and was done in the traditional New Zealand style on tattooing, using uhi, or chisels to add inked grooves into the skin rather than piercing it with needles and ink.  This makes the skin a bit raised and rough rather than a smooth surface.  This intricate tribal hand tat probably hurt really, really bad.

12A little gun tattoo is carefully inked across Rihanna’s right ribcage by tattoo artist Bang Bang (kind of ironic).  This tat was a bit controversial since it was done in the midst of her abuse rumors while with ex-boyfriend Chris Brown.  Rihanna has also been seen sporting a little gun necklace as well.  Are these guns a sign of a self-empowered, new “gangsta” Rihnna?  Sure hope so.

13Rihanna’s self-motivating “Never a Failure, Always a Lesson” tattoo is mirrored on her right shoulder blade, just above her breast.  This tat was done in December of 2009 and is written in backwards cursive writing to remind her every time she looks in the mirror.   Rihanna explains that this has always been a motto in life for her, not to treat events as mistakes but as lessons to be learned.

14The “rebelle fleur” tattoo, which is french for “rebellious flower” was done in August of 2010 on the back of Rihanna’s neck towards her left ear.  The tat was done in New York City at Eastside Ink.  Some say that the words should be reversed to translate correctly and be grammatically correct, as the phrase would be used in a sentence.  The rebelle fleur tattoo does in fact correctly translate if one is just trying to say rebellious flower.  That’s all she is trying to say, so shut up!

15The latest tat on your favorite superstar is Rihannas Thug Life tattoo written on the knuckles of each of her fingers (not thumbs of course) in white ink. Rihanna’s “Thug Life” tattoo is a tribute to the late infamous rapper TuPac who started the hip hop group Thug Life in 1993 and had a Thug Life tattoo across his stomach.