bluebird tattoos

anyone happen to know the meaning of bluebird tattoos? like the ones worn by Mike Ness of Social Distortion... I've heard it has a nautical meaning, like "safe journey home".... Any ideas?

ive heard two different stories. one is that a pair of bluebirds means that youve seen all seven seas. the more logical one that ive heard is that when sailors leave their home port they get one bird, and when they come home they get the second

The meaning of a bluebird is that a sailor has traveled 5000 nautical miles. I know cause I'm a sailor and I have 2 of them!

Thanks for the story Hootie!

I've also heard that a pair of blue birds are like gardian angels and that if a sailor falls overboard they will carry him/her safely to shore.

My grandpa had 2 bluebird tattoos,that he got while serving his country, it was the name of his group

I really have my doubts about the 5000 nautical miles legend. If that was the case every single sailor who got tattooed back in the day would have had them. 5000 nautical miles is nothing. It's two trips if you go deep sea/blue water voyaging. I had 5000 miles done within my first 6 weeks. However, I don't have any theory to replace that one. The fact that the traditional tattoo was a single bird, in blue only, between the thumb and forefinger on the left hand has to be significant, but you're liable to find a hundred theories on it. At the end of the day, the sole reason to get a tat is that you like how it looks.

I really have my doubts about the 5000 nautical miles legend. If that was the case every single sailor who got tattooed back in the day would have had them. 5000 nautical miles is nothing. It's two trips if you go deep sea/blue water voyaging. I had 5000 miles done within my first 6 weeks. However, I don't have any theory to replace that one. The fact that the traditional tattoo was a single bird, in blue only, between the thumb and forefinger on the left hand has to be significant, but you're liable to find a hundred theories on it. At the end of the day, the sole reason to get a tat is that you like how it looks.