Aztec & Mexican Tattoos

Mexican tattoos are some of the most striking new patterns around. They take their themes from those of ancient Mayan, Inca and Aztec art, a very distinctive look that’s different from most other types of tattoo designs, yet instantly recognizable.The bold, geometric patterns of Mexican tattoos make them very well suited to tattoo art.

Ancient Aztec Tattoos

Mexican Tattoo

The Aztecs were a tribe that lived from the 13th to the 16th century in and around the area that is now called Mexico. Religion and the many gods were very important in the Aztec culture, a lot of the daily life of the Aztecs was meant to honor and please the gods.

Tattooing played an important role in the Aztec culture though, even children were tattooed.

The ancient Aztec tattoo designs were rather rudimentary, and were not only designed to decorate the body, but for a variety of reasons:

• Aztec tribal tattoos were done during rituals and always in honor of a specific god.
• Tattoo designs were used to differentiate between the different tribes.
• Aztec tattoo designs were used to mark a person’s status, to show a warrior's rank and accomplishments.

There are several tattoo designs that we commonly see with regard to Aztec and Mexican tattoos:

• Many Aztec tattoo designs involve the sun in one way or another. Sun tattoos were in honor of Huitzilopochtili, the Aztec sun god. The sun was very important to the Aztec people, it was the guardian of the heavens. That's why today, an Aztec sun tattoo symbolizes belief in an afterlife.
• Quetzalcoatl – the feathered serpent god of ancient Mexico – has also been adapted to Mexican tattooing. Quetzalcoatl, the god of weather, creativity and fertility, was the most powerful of all Aztec gods.
  
  
  
• Tezcatlipoca, the god of warriors.
• The Aztec calendar is a nice design for a tribal tattoo. Here's a video of an Aztec calendar tattoo in the works:
• Eagle: Aztec warriors drew strength from the eagle.
• Other Aztec tattoos that are popular today are cross tattoos and sun & moon tattoos.

Nowadays people are interested in Aztec tribal tattoos because of their symbolic meaning, to honor their heritage or because they feel a connection with the ancient and powerful culture of the Aztecs.

Mexican Prison and Gang Tattoos

On the other hand, one type of Mexican or Hispanic tattoo has been current for some time, and that is the gang or prison related tattoo. These tattoo designs often feature:

• Ornate tattoo lettering.
• Christian (specifically Catholic) images. These include images of certain saints, the Virgin Mary, as well as cross or Christ imagery.

Examples of Mexican mafia tattoos include:

• An eagle with a snake in its mouth, standing on the initials EME.
• A black hand.
• MM: Mafia Mexicana.

Other Mexican Tattoo Designs

Nowadays, there’s much more to Mexican tattoos than a prison or gang related design. Mexican style tattoos are among the most beautiful and original new tattoos designs today.

• Mexican skull tattoos: inspired by the Mexican Day of the Dead, a holiday in which the Mexican people remember those who have died.
  
  
  
• Mexican pride tattoos: a lot of Mexicans work in the United States, away from their origins. To honor their heritage and show their Mexican pride, some adorn themselves with for example a Mexican flag tattoo.

Before you decide on a Mexican tattoo design, do a bit of research about the mythology that engendered it, and the precise meaning of the image you are choosing. After all, you will be living with this image for the rest of your life (at least until the cost of tattoo removal comes down a bit), so you want to make sure that it resonates with you – in more ways than just appearance.

Some of Aztec, Maya and Inca mythology is inspiring, but some of it tends to be a bit dark, so you need to make sure that you don't end up with an image whose meaning you aren't completely comfortable with!

Mexican tattoos are a highly decorative and rapidly growing sector of the tattoo community. With their elaborate use of color and vivid imagery, no single tat style seems to merge the ancient and the modern like these popular tattoo designs.

Mexican tattoos derive much of their look from the ancient art of the Mayans and the Aztecs. Though both cultures employed the use of tattoos, mostly to mark slaves and convicts, Mexican tattoos are influenced by the religious art these cultures used to appease the fickle gods that ruled their everyday life, not the crude lines they called ‘tattoos’. Examples of this can be found in Mayan gods like Chac and Ah-Puc, with their connections to fertility and death, which makes for striking tattoo designs with rich use of color and exaggerated physical features.

Some of the most popular Mexican tattoos are those of the Aztec variety. Aztec tattoos are not only visually striking, but they represent a nationalistic pride of ancient Mexico. Tattoos of this type that remain popular are Quetzalcoatl, the feathered serpent messiah, and Chalchiuhtlicu, the god of youth.

Mexican tattoos also echo the bridge between the pagan and the Christian world. The catholic influence on Mexican art can be found in tattoos that show “Day of the Dead” motifs—most recognizable with skeletons in highly stylized and celebratory tableaus. These continue to be some of the requested tattoos around.

Another, somewhat controversial, form of Mexican tattoos is prison gang art. Often administered both inside prisons and in outside tattoo parlors, Mexican tattoos of this kind declare one’s allegiance to the Mexican prison subculture and most notably the Mexican mafia and its arch rival, La Nuestra Familia. The Mexican Mafia, or ESE as it is known, has the instantly recognizable image of an eagle holding a snake, while La Nuestra Familia is portrayed by a tattoo depicting a sombrero with a machete through it.

No matter what kind of Mexican tattoo it is, all of them seem to share the role of celebrating one’s affiliation to a culture. This continues to make them popular tat choices. Because of their cultural importance, it’s imperative that your tattoo artist has experience in the genre so that your tat looks as good as it can be-and is worthy of a heritage that is thousands of years old.