The butterfly is far and away the most-used insect image in all of tattoo. A symbolic creature in many cultures, it sometimes represents beauty itself or metamorphosis and other times the transitory nature of happiness and, indeed, all of life. To the Aztecs, the butterfly symbol- ized the soul or the breath of life exhaled by the dying. The same is true in classical antiquity, where it was a common belief that the soul left the body in the shape of a butterfly. In Western culture, butterflies are also seen as symbols of freedom. They lend themselves to all manner of colorful and fanciful adaptations in tattoo imagery. Despite their enormous variety with respect to color, shape, and size, their embellishments in tattoo art may well rival those found in nature.
The butterfly is far and away the most-used insect image in all of tattoo. A symbolic creature in many cultures, it sometimes represents beauty itself or metamorphosis and other times the transitory nature of happiness and, indeed, all of life. To the Aztecs, the butterfly symbol- ized the soul or the breath of life exhaled by the dying. The same is true in classical antiquity, where it was a common belief that the soul left the body in the shape of a butterfly. In Western culture, butterflies are also seen as symbols of freedom. They lend themselves to all manner of colorful and fanciful adaptations in tattoo imagery. Despite their enormous variety with respect to color, shape, and size, their embellishments in tattoo art may well rival those found in nature.
