Skull tattoos

Chart your course

Just a short drive from Orlando, our swashbuckling neighbor, Tampa, relives its pirate days and the tale of pirate captain José Gaspar, aka Gasparilla—who ravaged the west coast of Spanish Florida for 40 years—during the annual Gasparilla Pirate Festival. But here in Orlando, we don’t need a festival or a reason to create a skull tattoo, it’s just what we love to do.

Back in the day, skull tattoos weren’t just for pirates. The earliest sailors wore them as badges of honor. Menacing and masculine, skull tattoos just looked badass—and they still do. Which is part of the reason they were a favorite style of Sailor Jerry. After his stint in the Navy, Sailor Jerry opened a tattoo parlor. Servicemen would flock to Sailor Jerry’s tattoo shop when they passed through Honolulu. His style spread throughout the world. Many of Sailor Jerry’s skull tattoos were flanked with crossbones, anchors, ships, treasure maps, and even roses. The Skull and crossbones tattoo soon became synonymous with sailors everywhere.

Today, it’s not just sailors getting skull tattoos. At Hart & Huntington Orlando, our tattoo artists create eye-catching skull tattoos for various clients—partly because they are versatile, display a large skull tattoo across your chest or a small, detailed one on your ankle—and partly because the designs take on a multitude of meanings. Skull tattoos are rich in symbolism. They can represent everything from the afterlife to rebirth, death to eternity. Pair them with other elements such as crossbones, roses, anchors, swords, and animals and you get an entirely different message. 

Most notably, skull tattoos are done in Black or Grayscale. But you’ll see Sugar Skulls, symbolic of the Day of the Dead celebration, in vivid colors. 

Unlike Sailor Jerry, and the tattoo artists at Hart & Huntington Orlando, many artists don’t know the difference between a ship and Shinola. So if you’re ready to drop anchor and get a skull tattoo, leave it to the professionals. Schedule a consultation with one of our super talented artists fora jolly good time.