Rainbow tattoo: best ideas and meaning

Rainbow tattoo: meaning and symbolism

Across cultures the rainbow reads as a sign of reconciliation and a new beginning – a bridge between earth and sky that appears once the storm has passed. That is also the most common reason people get one.

The rainbow is also the flag of the LGBT community, and for many people that is the primary meaning. Either reading can be made clear in the design, or the two can be brought together – it depends what you want it to say.

Modern meaning and personal reading

The most common reading is memorial and hopeful: a rainbow after a hard period, after a loss or after illness. It is also a motif tied to a child, particularly after a difficult pregnancy.

An addition sharpens the meaning: a cloud and rain emphasise what came before, mountains or a landscape shift the whole towards nature, a heart or a name towards a specific person.

Styles and design variations

The rainbow is a colour motif by definition, and that is the one thing to watch: colour gradients fade faster than black, and yellow and light green go first. Denser pigments, a stronger outline and a placement that stays out of the sun all help.

Besides the classic colour treatment, fine line rainbows with the bands only suggested work well, as do watercolour with bleeding edges and a black-and-grey version where the rainbow is carried by line alone. We tattoo rainbows most often on the forearm, wrist, collarbone and ankle.

Our artists like to experiment, and they will build you something that still makes sense to you years from now.