BlueBirds

My father was in WWII and had 2 bluebirds on his chest. He is now deceased and I want to get a bluebird tattooed on my shoulder in his memory. Where can I find a picture that would look similar to the tattoos from that time? Thanks

If your dad got tattooed during WW2 than theres a pretty good chance that it was a very traditional piece of americana flash. Just about any shop that you go to now a days has a handful of guys who "Specialize" in that. Or at the very least have tons of that sort of flash kicking around the shop. Also if you have a picture of his tattoo, any artist worth there salt, should be able to reproduce it for ya'. Your best bet is to ask around, where are you from, maybe someone can recomend an artist in your area. JOE

Im watching something on the Discovery channel now about tattoo's Theres alot of sailors with the birds on their chest. What do they mean?

Im MichaelH from above post. I went and got to bluebirds on my chest that are the traditional style. Check out Sailor Jerry. Most Tattoo shops should have a flash book of his. Mine was out of the Volume 2, Its a pinkish color book with a peice of his work on the front. I love mine!!!

the meaning behind swallows on the chest is when a sailor went out to sea for more then 5000 miles he got them to represent his voyage, you can find them pretty much on any old school sailor flash

Actually the real meaning behind the two birds is if a sailor traveled past the equator and back..then he got birds tattooed on his chest...

I know that there are a lot of rumors about the true meaning behind the symbology of the sparrows on the chest. The true meaning is that if a sailor dies at sea then the sparrows will carry your soul to heaven. If you cross the equator then you would get a shellback turtle tattooed on you. Just to clarify that for ya'll!

Actually the shellback turtle means that the sailor sailed across the equator. the bird was a symbol of land, the sailor would see the bird when they were close to land and they would get a bluebird tattoowhen they had sailled 5,000 nautical miles and another when he sailed 10,000

Gonna have to agree with guinness144 on this one. I have a sparrow on my stomach in memory of my grandfather too. The nautical sparrow represents 5000 nautical miles at sea, therefore two would represent 10,000 and so forth. It's in the encyclopedia for goodness sake. Still, the legend of a sailor's soul being carried to heaven by the birds is very valid. They served multiple purposes, apparently.

wow guys, you have sure given this girl from texas a lot to think about. i happened upon this site looking for a songbird tat for me. i'm really comforted that i'm supposed to now get 2 bluebirds on my chest, signifying my daddy's service in the navy during wwii; one for him, and one for me, as i sing. this month will be 10 yrs since daddy went to heaven, so it's very special. God bless.

Good tattooin songbyrd!! And our condolances on your pops!! What better to renember him by than a tattoo?? Any more questions you have about tattooing or if we can be of service in any way you just let us know!!....PEACE...TAz

So it's not the same as The "Bluebird" of happiness?

bluebird on the chest for each 5000 miles turtle standing on hindlegs with the back of the shell showing and the date, place and ship where you crossed the equator this is placed on the upper left calf. fullmasted sailing vessel on the back for rounding cape horn ropes around wrists if you were a deckhand the words "hold fast" on the fingers if you were a deckhand rating makrs are common also, boatswain mates usually get crossed anchors, deck hands usually get anchors on the forearm (like popeye) a pig on the left knee in conjunction with a cock (rooster) on the right foot to keep from drowning, there is also a saying: "pig on the knee, safety at sea, cock on the right, never lose a fight" i am a united states sailor on the USS NASSAU (LHA 4) was in deck department for 2 years, and now am a Master At Arms.

the turtle goes on the RIGHT upper calf, sorry bout that, forgot which leg i was looking at.

the anchor on the forearm of a seaman denotes that they have crossed the atlantic, i will add more facts as i accrue them.

Are we mixing fowl here? Not sure about bluebirds, but if it's really swallows we're talking about, I remember reading, in the Sailor Jerry Collins book by Ed Hardy, that the origin of the swallow tattoo comes from a ship named the swallow, the men had a mutiny, the original 7 mutineers had swallows tattooed on them....?

i have heard and seen tattoos of both, however the swallow is far more common, being one of sailor jerry's common tattoos, it is indeed the swallow, my apologies.

i was told that sparrows/swallows some how hold the spirit of the dead..does anyone know if this is true? or have they ever heard this.. i was thinking about getting one because my mom passed away 7 years ago.. and i want sumthing to dedicate to her.. with a banner with her birthdate and the day she died under it.. or sumhow incorperated. i was also told that they are to be tattooed in pairs. the sparrow is a bird unlike others they find their soul mate and stay with them until they die. please respond

I'm not sure if you realize what the significance of that tattoo is. I'm willing to bet that your grandfather was in the Navy, huh? The Bluebirds on the shoulders/chest signify the crossing of an ocean. The reason for bluebirds is that a lot of the time, those were the first land based birds that people saw as they would get closer to shore back in the days of sailing ship sailors. Much like an image of King Neptune signifies that you are no longer a wog, or polywog. You have crossed the equator, undergone a shell-back ceremony and have been declared worthy of the king to stand in his court. You are then a shellback. Or earrings, they are often associated with pirates or sailors. That's because if you have a ship sink out from under you then you are allowed to wear a single silver hoop. Two ships, both ears. After that, you change from silver to gold for the third ship. If you survive 4 or 5 you get second peircings in both ears, respectively. As far as a good picture, there used to be a thing for sailor flash called tattooed sailor or something like that. I used a picture of Ozzy Osborne's tattoos to show the guy what it was that I wanted when I got mine.

I'm going with "furnuts" here. As a former leading seaman and boatswain mate on board USS Belleau Wood, (LHA-3) I can tell you that he is right on with his interpretations.