Belonging to the violet family, the Pansy is a dazzling flower that comes in a rainbow of different colors like pink, purple, yellow, and blue. With its heart-shaped petals and pretty patterns, the flower is used to symbolize feelings of love. A pansy tattooed on your body also represents free-thinking and remembrance.
The rest of this article will share the meaning of a pansy tattoo, its history, and different designs and styles you might want to consider.
What is the History of Pansy Tattoos?
Tattoos have had a significant standing throughout history as people would apply symbols on parts of their body to signify their identity or tribe. The drawings would have different meanings, depending on the associated symbol and what it stood for.
Flower tattoos were a particularly popular idea in distant times. The flora and fauna would represent different roots and origins. When it comes to the pansy, this tattoo holds a quite lot of meaning and is rich in folklore history.
A cousin of the viola or violet, the pansy has its roots in Europe and dates back to the 1800s. An English nobleman named William Thompson together with his gardener crossed different viola species. This is when the first pansy bloomed and awestruck everyone with its varying patterns.
In the next 50 years, the flower reached America and gained even more popularity. In fact, it became the most widely grown flower by 1888.
Throughout history, there were many fascinating and magical beliefs associated with this pretty flower.
People believed that you could pluck one of the petals and count the veins running through it to foretell your lover’s future. If there were four veins, it meant there’s hope. seven meant forever, eight meant fickle lover, nine meant an incoming change of heart, and eleven veins indicated an early death of your beloved. Beautiful and tragic, right?
What Do Pansy Symbolize?
The pansy flower has a number of symbolic meanings. The name itself is derived from the French word ‘Pensee‘ which means “to think over something“.
So, this gorgeous flower represents thought and remembrance. You can gift someone a bouquet of pansies to convey “I am thinking of you”. It is seen as a way to convey both romantic and platonic love.
The pansy is mostly seen as a passionate flower, a display of love, admiration and romance. Even in ancient times, the pansy flower depicted secret courting.
As its literal meaning is “thought”, the pansy flower was also a symbol of free thought for the American Secular Union in the late 1800’s. The symbol was used to represent the movement that challenged religious dogma and adopted a free mode of thinking.
Simoly put, the pansy flower conveys an important message of creativity, introspection, and thinking without barriers.
What Do Pansy Tattoos Mean?
This flower tattoo is typically considered a feminine one, although men can get it too. A pansy tattoo mostly depicts love and its pursuit. It is often well-suited to romantic people who like the idea of love and wish to attract this energy in their life.
A pansy flower drawn on the body can also be a way to honor a loved one’s memory. Bright pansies are mostly associated with creating a positive attitude and welcoming bright events into your life.
As pansies come in a gorgeous array of shades, this gives them a different spiritual meaning based on the color. Here is a quick guide on pansy colors and what they mean:
- Blue pansies: You can get a blue pansy tattoo if you want to radiate and attract calm, serene and peaceful vibes. A lighter shade of blue points to the heavens and symbolizes the link between the Earth and the Heaven.
- White pansies: Depicting purity, innocence and simplicity, a white pansy tattoo can be made to remember the bereaved. It is often seen as a symbol of peace in the Afterlife. Another meaning associated with white color is “knowledge and wisdom”.
- Purple pansies: A purple pansy represents royalty, power and wealth. It also shows the ability to to take challenges head on.
- Yellow pansies: Yellow is the color of joy and happiness. It is an unapologetically happy and cheerful tattoo to get, as it serves as a reminder to always smile. Yellow color also represents an artistic soul.
- Pink pansies: The color pink expresses femininity, love, uniqueness, and positivity.
Where Do Pansy Tattoos Usually Go?
The location of your pansy tattoo also holds some importance in terms of what it represents.
The most popular locations for to get this particular tattoo are:
- back
- ribs
- neck
- shoulder
- wrist
- ankle
The rib cage is a popular area for a pansy tattoo as it is a vulnerable spot that not everyone can see. This adds more emotional meaning if your tattoo has a close place in your heart or honors someone special. Similarly, the back is also a good option.
The shoulder is more visible than the ribs and it is a flattering area for all floral tattoos. Another sweet spot for this type of flower is the inside of the wrist.
Characteristics and Styles of Pansy Tattoos
As a tattoo design, pansies allow you to be as versatile and creative as you want. You can go for a super minimal and delicate design for a touch of simplicity or go all bold with bigger, multiple pansies.
You can pair the pansies with other flowers like daisies or roses to add multiple meanings to your tattoo design.
One cute idea is to get a heart shape made with a pansy inside it. This can depict the ever-lasting love you have for someone.
Some people get pansies drawn with thorns around them to express their feelings of pain and remembrance of someone who hurt them or left their life.
If you’re an artistic person, you can get shaded, watercolor pansies for a touch of magic.
Conclusion
Whether you’re a romantic person, a daydreamer, or a believer of free thinking, the pansy flower holds a strong meaning and represents very special attributes. This floral tattoo can convey practically anything you want as you have the freedom to play with different colors.
If you’re looking for a tattoo idea, this beautifully patterned flower might just be the one.
