Koi Fish Tattoos

Koi fish tattoos have become incredibly popular as of late because they not only look great but they also come with a lot of symbolism behind them.

Koi fish are a species of ornamental Japanese fish that have been bread for centuries and kept in sacred and ornamental ponds in outdoor gardens for their wonderful colors. Many traits have been associated with the Koi as a symbol usually revolving around them bringing good luck, wealth, love, or being symbols of perseverance and determination.

These sorts of fish tattoos have been traditionally been worn more by men than by women because they usually made up sleeve tattoos or back tattoos. A lot of the symbolism of a koi tattoo is directly linked to where exactly on the body it is situated. For instance if the fish is represented with running water then the koi represents courage as well as the ability of overcoming life’s difficulties. On the other hand koi fish tattoos that are executed with the fish swimming upstream mean that the person is still fighting with their problem, while koi swimming downstream means that the person has overcome their problem.

Koi tattoos are preferred by men for other reasons beyond their symbolism as well. Usually they are created on large areas of one’s body in order to make as much use of their wonderfully vibrant color schemes as possible.

The koi is a species of carp that originated in China but it’s the Japanese that brought much of its symbolism to the world at large. The koi as a symbol of courage comes from the fact that they are very strong fish that swim upstream and from an old Chinese legend that tells of a koi that was courageous enough to swim up the waterfalls of the Yellow River and that any fish that could reach the point called “Dragon Gate” would become a dragon. This is where koi fish tattoos get their basic meaning of courage and the ability of facing adversity against what might appear to be impassable obstacles. Another meaning to koi fish tattoos is that of non-conformity, since the koi swims upriver it means that it doesn’t need to bow to the flow of the things that surround it, and makes its own path.

Koi fish tattoos don’t stop in symbolism at stoicism, since the fish come in a plethora of shades of yellow, gold, white and red they have been called living jewels, and as such they symbolize good fortune and wealth, for instance representing five golden koi means eternal wealth and well being, whether the wealth is material of spiritual that is to each man to decide. Flash tattoos do koi fish tattoos a lot of justice thanks to their varied options of using color.

Koi fish tattoos can be considered to be related to some extent with tiger tattoos since both images summon characteristics of strength, courage and grace.

Koi fish tattoos work great on their own, especially when they’re properly colored, however if one is looking for more complex designs that don’t necessarily focus on koi, then the symbolism of koi fish tattoos can be combined with intricate tribal tattoos where they can add other images such as scorpion tattoos to complement the symbolism.