October 27, 2011 at 1:07 am #37884
ariggsd
Participant
@ariggsd

Hi, I’m needing help figuring out what exactly one of my grandfathers tattoos was so that me and my uncle can get one as a memorial for him. Sadly we didn’t take any pictures of it before his death but we still vaguely remember it. It was some type of nautical tattoo across his chest that had two swallows that each had an end of a rope (or clothes line I’m not entirely sure) in their beaks, and draped across the rope (or clothes line) were flags or pieces of white cloth that each had a letter on them and all together they spelled something out, we are pretty sure it was some kind of sailor phrase but we can’t remember what it said. Sorry this is all the information we have to go on, I was hoping since it was a naval tattoo that someone might know what I was talking about, any help at all would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance!

October 27, 2011 at 2:26 am #114759
anonymous
Participant
@anonymous

I have no idea tbh, but a quick search only brought up the pics below. It isn’t what you described, but seems to be a popular naval image.

Also, there’s also a lot of info here on the symbolism behind the swallow tattoos: http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_is_the_symbolism_of_a_swallow_tattoo

AAAACwHek6YAAAAAAG18xg.jpg

October 27, 2011 at 2:58 am #114760
Wardy
Participant
@wardy

For a memorial just get something what will remind you of him. No matter when you look at it the first thing you will think of is granddad.

October 27, 2011 at 11:00 am #114768
ariggsd
Participant
@ariggsd

Thanks for the help D3FIANC3 but sorry thats not it, its a small tattoo but runs the width of his chest and doesnt involve an anchor

October 27, 2011 at 1:05 pm #114774
Adler
Participant
@adler
Wardy;99641 wrote:
For a memorial just get something what will remind you of him. No matter when you look at it the first thing you will think of is granddad.

Yeah, this. How much of a personal memorial can it be if you’re scouring the internet looking for the exact image which might be shared by many other people? You should get something based on your memory of the other tattoo and personalize it to fit your grandfather rather than get something that’s already been done.

October 27, 2011 at 7:28 pm #114796
ariggsd
Participant
@ariggsd
Adler;99658 wrote:
Yeah, this. How much of a personal memorial can it be if you’re scouring the internet looking for the exact image which might be shared by many other people? You should get something based on your memory of the other tattoo and personalize it to fit your grandfather rather than get something that’s already been done.

Yeah, that may end up being what we do, thanks for the help guys. We might do “IN MEMORY OF” then the tattoo I described but with his name instead of the naval phrase, thanks for the help everyone!

October 28, 2011 at 12:47 am #114811
Briscogun
Participant
@briscogun

Could you track someone down that knew him or might have been there when he got it? If he was military, maybe it was specific to his unit?

Just some thoughts. I agree with the others, just get something that symbolizes him to you. Talk to an artist and see what they can design for you. Might mean more to you if its a special custom piece inspired by your granddad.

February 1, 2012 at 12:02 pm #120908
Kit Piper
Participant
@kit-piper

Sound like the flags may have been prayer flags of some type, or based on them….

http://blackhills-audubon.org/flags.htm

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