Protection & Divinity – Angel Tattoo Guide By Tattoo Designers

To help you with your research for your next tattoo design, we went on a hunt through Instagram to find the best angel tattoo ideas.

Take a look below to check them out all:

For those who do not want to depict a whole angels, an angel wings tattoo can be a great choice.

You can do a small version that fits snuggly on the wrist, or ankle.

It can also be fully developed wings on the forearm or back, spread as a symbol of protection.

Angel wings carry many meanings, among them purity, courage, love harmony, guidance, faith, and courage.

To some it also means having the courage and freedom to go on new adventures, feeling protected by their guardian.

According to Christian tradition, every one of us has a guardian angel, who accompanies the believers from the moment they’re born until the moment  of death, and stays at their side at every moment of their life.

These good divine spirits come in many ranks, dedicated to protection of the human kind and Christianity, so a guardian angel tattoo can reference many things.

Getting a guardian angel tattoo can also be a memorial tattoo done for the people we perceive as our our protectors and guardians.

Fallen angels are angels who were expelled from heaven.

The literal term “fallen angel” does not appear in any Abrahamic religious texts, but is used to describe angels cast out of heaven or angels who sinned. Such angels often tempt humans to sin.

When talking about fallen angel tattoos, it is also related to a painting by the French artist Alexandre Cabanel. It was painted in 1847, when the artist was 24 years old, and depicts the Devil after his fall from Heaven.

Cabanel painted this is 1847 at the age of 24, finding much inspiration from the story about Lucifer.

He said this about it:

“…I depict two natures, two races, one inexorably doomed, predestined to evil and misfortune, finally to fall ; while the other chaste and pure rises radiantly towards God glorifying him. However, the main motif of my painting is the evil genius, Satan!…”

The angel of death is personification of death and an angel which attends to death, collecting souls at death, ending life at the appointed time of death.

The angel connected to it in some Abrahamic religions is Azrael, especially Islam and Christian popular culture.

For people who want to get an angel of death tattoo, the reasoning usually involves around having a symbol of memento mori, or remeber death.

It’s a proclamation of life, by remembering that each one of us will die, and we need to use this life to the fullest.

Angel numbers are a way for your angels to communicate with you and offer you guidance, support, or even messages.

These are repetitive sequence or pattern of numbers that carry meaning to people who see them on a regular basis.

For example, 444 angel number means a period of recreation or personal betterment is coming to one’s life.

They can be combined with the animals that also can reference to a message of a deceased loved one, such as butterfly, hummingbird, or a moth.

If you’re looking into getting an angel number tattoo, we have a deep dive guide here.

Baby angel tattoos carry an essence of purity with them.

There are two ways to interpret them, and what they can mean.

The term “angel baby” can refer to an infant who passes away during pregnancy or soon after birth. This euphemistic term gives grieving parents a simple way to reference their loss.

Another symbolism associated with a baby angel tattoo is putto  – a figure in a work of art depicted as a chubby male child, usually naked and very often winged.

Originally limited to profane passions in symbolism, the putto came to represent a sort of baby angel in religious art.

Although angels are genderless, they are usually referred to as male in the Bible.

Still, people have taken this symbol of grace, protection and love and applied it to a female figure, too.

Expressions such as “an angel of a woman” is quite common, usually referring to a woman who has “angelic” qualities, such as kindness, mercy, holiness, and patience.

Historically, the female angel didn’t arrive in art history until the 19th century with the Romantic and Victorian periods.

As the artist Anna Rose Bain explains: perhaps women are more popular than men as winged figures because they are less intimidating, more nurturing or comforting, as well as more maternal.

Angels are not male or female in the way that humans understand and experience gender.

But whenever angels are mentioned in the Bible, the word translated “angel” is always used in the masculine form, with masculine name.

Especially if you are looking to represent one of the archangels in the tattoo (see above in ‘Types of angels’), male angel tattoo would be the most correct representation.

The cherubim are a group of angels recognized in both Judaism and Christianity.

Cherub tattoos depict them as small, chubby male angels, which is a modern interpretations.

In theory, cherubim are powerful hierarchy of angels that have inspired art and through that tattoo art.

Basically, cherubs guard God’s glory both on Earth and by his throne in heaven, work on the universe’s records, and help people grow spiritually by delivering God’s mercy to them and motivating them to pursue more holiness in their lives.

The seraphim are the order of angels closest to God.

Visually they are depicted as six-winged angelic creatures.

Each set of the seraphim’s wings serves a different purpose, as explained in the verse Isaiah 6:2:

• one set covers the face, denoting reverence and awe and acts as protection from the radiance of God’s glory
• second set of wings is used for flying, to aid in their swift servitude
• the third set is used to cover the seraphim’s feet so that they can humbly conceal their unworthiness, while in God’s holy presence.

Seraphims are known as purufication angels, as their name literally means to burn with fire in Hebrew.

Archangel Michael is the chief prince of the heavenly and the most top ranked angel.

He is repeatedly depicted as the “great captain,” the leader of the heavenly hosts, and the warrior helping the children of Israel.

His order is most commonly known he is mentioned by name in the Bible — including Gabriel and Raphael.

Many relate to his image and story, as he is seen as a great warrior, leading the army of angels in the war against the devil.

In an Archangel Michael tattoo he is usually shown with a sword, in combat with or triumph over a dragon.