What are Dragon Tattoos?

Dragons are mythical creatures popular both in eastern and western cultures. There are many stories and legends on the powers of these creatures. Interestingly, dragons personify very different characteristics in eastern culture than they do in western culture.

In eastern cultures, dragons are symbols of all that is good and fortunate. Eastern dragons depict benevolence, abundance, vision and bravery.

In western cultures dragons are depicted as dangerous and menacing creatures. Hence, many legends and stories in western mythology talk about and glorify dragon slayers and dragon tamers. This difference in perception also extends to tattoos. Eastern dragon tattoos thus look very different from western dragon tattoos.

Which dragon tattoo to choose - Eastern or Western

This depends on your personal choice and what you want your dragon tattoo to depict. If you are looking for a colorful and complex dragon tattoo, an Eastern tattoo is the way to go. Eastern dragon tattoos often depict dragons in lots of detail. Much emphasis is given to the features because each part of the dragon is from another creature. For example: dragons are supposed to have the eyes of a demon, neck of a snake, claws of an eagle and a body covered in scales. The number of toes on the dragon are of special significance: Indonesian dragons have four toes, chinese dragons have five each and Japanese dragons only have three. Besides these characteristics your eastern dragon tattoo could also have personal meaning attached and could symbolize strength, benevolence or abundance.

Choose a western dragon if you want to make a statement about being a tough guy or gal! Western dragons typically have large bat like wings and four limbs. Western dragons could also have a medium. For example: they might be water dragons or air dragons. You could depict this on your tattoo. Western dragon tattoos are fun and are very free form. This is why you may encounter very non-threatening baby dragon tattoos or far more menacing and large dragon tattoos.

Reasons to pick a dragon tattoo

The good thing about dragon tattoos are that they can be adjusted in size depending on the body area you want to cover and still have significant impact. They can be reproduced with stunning detail or with just a few simple lines. Since dragon shapes are so distinct there can never be any confusion regarding what your tattoo is exactly. You can combine your dragon tattoos with various other symbols or words to create your own unique vision.

Channel the various powers attributed to dragons and decide on a personal dragon tattoo. This special tattoo can then hold special meaning that only you can interpret while the rest of the world sees an awe inspiring piece of work.