PachoDiscovering the best dragonfly tattoo ideas is no easy task. This intricate and beautiful insect has a way of creating quite a beautiful presence on the skin, much like any other tattoo. However, every person wants to have an image that is personal to them, whether it is rich and colorful or simple and monochromatic. The dragonfly is no different, but why? What exactly draws people to the dragonfly, and why has it become such a popular tattoo for men and women alike?
60 Best Dragonfly Tattoo Ideas that Show Your Love of Change
The dragonfly has rather universal symbolism throughout the world as a catalyst for change and the ability to be adaptable through the trials and tribulations of life. Most of the time, the changes that it represents are that of the mental and emotional state of the individual, and the same is true of their depiction in tattoos.
People who want dragonfly tattoos are the people who understand the depth that life has to offer, which is appreciated by men and women. Even in nature, the dragonfly is thought to be a good omen and a symbol of prosperity. For instance, if a fisherman sees that there are many dragonflies around, it may be a sign that the area abounds with fish. The dragonfly also makes for great biomechanical tattoos if you are into those types of designs.
Even the colors of a dragonfly tattoo are easy to play within these dragonfly tattoo images. They can be inked as the most realistic versions of this insect, or you can incorporate colors that mean something to you (even as a faith tattoo). You can even go for tiny finger tattoos and stick to the more minimalistic designs.
1. Long Tail Criss-Cross Dragonfly Tattoo
This cool tattoo is monochromic and elegantly sits on your forearm just above your inner wrist. This forearm tattoo features incredible linework, making it look as though it was sketched by a charcoal pencil. The rustic and haunting design brings complexity to this arm tattoo design.
2. Grey-Black Dragonfly Bush Tattoo for the Intense Souls
The color in itself makes the dragonfly tattoo very intense. This dragonfly tattoo is shaded in black and grey, featuring a balance of various dragonflies. They swarm near the long grass below, covering up the shoulder and arm area. It makes a beautiful half sleeve tattoo with incredible lines that wrap around the arm.
3. Violet-Blue Small Dragonfly Tattoo for the Cute Design Lovers
If you want a dragonfly tattoo but do not want it to be an elaborate tattoo, this look offers a small look that is easy to place on any part of the body. With the violet and blue colors, this design can be added to an existing tattoo or stand-alone. This design would also work as a foot tattoo.
4. Clean and Crisp Dragonfly Tattoo
This dragonfly tattoo is also of a long-tail dragonfly, but it is clean and is very neatly drawn. It is the outline of a dragonfly done in black and stands alone in the tattoo. The wings of this dragonfly have nerve-like structures that run-up to its head. This could also work great as an ankle tattoo.
5. Best Friend Tattoos Design: Monochromatic Flower-Loving Dragonfly Design
This dragonfly tattoo is for people who love the juxtaposition of dragonflies with flowers. It has a shaded dragonfly that seems to be going in the direction of flowers. The flower tattoos are lightly shaded while the center of the dragonfly is dark with light shade colored wings complementing it. This could also work as a friendship tattoo.
6. Triangular Center Dragonfly Tattoo Design for Hope Lovers
In the center of a dark outlined triangle, an outstretched dragonfly tattoo offers a bold look. The dragonfly is at a 90-degree angle, keeping the design simple but clear. It stands strong as its own piece, though the light and thin lines in the wings require extreme precision.
7. Shadow-Parted Dragonfly Tattoo Design
Some of the beauty of the dragonfly is in its intricacy, and this dragonfly tattoo design brings out exactly that look. Rather than looking realistic, the insect offers a bold outline that shows the detailed wings and thin body. With the red outline, it looks a little raised against the skin.
8. Fireball Long-Tail Realistic Dragonfly Tattoos Design
This realistic dragonfly tattoo shows a very long-tailed dragonfly that could run across your whole forearm. In the background, you see red-shaded rings, using symbols to personalize the message behind them. The wings don’t have any detailing along their surface, but the red swirls make the design pop.
9. Cosmic Dragonfly Tattoo Design
The dragonfly’s divine structure puts two unique dragonfly tattoo designs together. While the dragonfly has geometric wings that almost appear to be crystals, they are emblazoned in front of a molecular design. Showing the love of science and insects alike, this particular idea is ideal as a back tattoo.
10. Horizontal Long-Armed Dragonfly Tattoo Design
This horizontally drawn dragonfly tattoo embellishes the actual size of a dragonfly to stretch across the forearm. The large design still simplifies the natural look of this insect, decorated with shading towards the main body. Each of the wings is clear and bold, though the entire tattoo is only made in black.
11. Geometrical Dragonfly Tattoo Design
While the general structure of this dragonfly tattoo makes it clear that the design is a dragonfly, it has a more geometric and crystallized look. It includes the main body, head, and wings of the dragonfly, seemingly symmetrical in one smooth line.
12. Elaborate Diamond Mystic Dragonfly Tattoo Design
Rather than having a dragonfly on a clean backdrop, this dragonfly tattoo shows a huge dragonfly with an incredible background. The elaborate look features a huge diamond-shaped structure and multiple diamond-shaped designs at its bottom. Rather than the thin wings that the dragonfly naturally has, these wings are thick and fluffy.
13. Free-Flowing Semi Geometric Dragonfly Tattoo Design
This dragonfly tattoo design is also semi-geometric, using various shapes and patterns to complete it. With gentle strands of dotted beads hanging from the lower wings, this design’s details are adorned with a subtle heart in the middle of the body.
14. Dragonfly Tattoo Idea with a Triangular Center
Against a strong triangular outline, this dragonfly tattoo is the strong center. You can also see some dots ranging from the tip of the dragonfly’s mouth to the tip of the triangle. With intricate designs on the wings of the dragonfly, the pearly white tattoo ink makes the body look as if it is shining. If you are looking for sister tattoos, this design could work well.
15. Half-Triangle Half Dragonfly Tattoo Design
While most tattoos show the entire dragonfly, this abstract dragonfly tattoo design only has half a dragonfly body over an unconventional triangle. There are three triangles, joining at the base that is made up of the half dragonfly’s half spine.
16. Green Shadowed Dragonfly Tattoo Design
For anyone that likes the colorful look of the dragonfly, this dragonfly tattoo embellishes the natural hues that exist on the insect. Made to offer a 3D look and design, there’s even a faded shadow beneath the entire body and wings. With blue and green along with the wings, the tattoo features the same blue with yellow and black on the body.
17. Blue Semi-Colon Dragonfly Tattoo Design
This dragonfly tattoo design shows a blue-colored dragonfly. Above the head of this dragonfly is a semicolon that is shaded in black, paying tribute to the symbol that has been used as a message to keep going. There is a shadow beneath the body of the dragonfly as well and its wings are widely spread out.
18. Huge Chest Dragonfly Tattoo Design
The bold look of this huge tattoo can span across most of your chest and torso. It shows an exceptionally large dragonfly, touching the shoulders with the tips of the wings. Those wings are crammed with stonework, while the body almost seems to be melting with intricate designs.
19. Small-Sized Shaded Dragonfly Design
This is a small dragonfly tattoo with three dragonflies touring behind each other. Growing in size with each pattern, these dragonflies fly down the arm with their boldly shaded bodies. Though they look like they are straight from a storybook, they are ideal for people who want a subtle and small tattoos design instead.
20. Intricate Dragonfly Tattoo Design for Chests
Large enough to decorate an entire chest, this is a unique dragonfly tattoo design shows a blue-colored dragonfly that looks like it is climbing up the geometrical stairs. It hovers over a sun-like structure, highlighting the gentle and detail of the face and body.
21. Blue Geometrical Staircase Dragonfly Tattoo Design
A blue-colored dragonfly looks like it is climbing up the geometrical stairs, trying to reach a sun-like structure. There are enough half-drawn boxes to complete the shape of the tattoo. The tattoo is completely blue, though the body is completely filled in. This is a great design to complement sun and moon tattoos with.
22. Black and Red Chest-Spread Dragonfly Tattoo Design
This chest design shows off a huge dragonfly that is accented by red splatters along with the black linework. The outline is bold, though the details within it are shaded and gentle. The angled legs are shaped almost unnaturally, curling inward at a sharp triangle.
23. Blue and Red Watercolor Dragonfly Tattoo Design
With a more whimsical design, this dragonfly tattoo breaks the traditional mold of a dragonfly tattoo by sketching the idea of what a dragonfly looks like. The watercolor pulls this entire design together with dark blue, light blue, red, and orange to show it off. As wispy flowers float in the background, this is one of the more imaginative looks.
24. Upside Down Basic Dragonfly Tattoo Design
If you want the meaning of a dragonfly without covering your entire body, this dragonfly tattoo design is considerably closer to your desired look. It shows a basic design of a dragonfly, pointed downward along the arm. The four wings are more separate from each other than some designs, shaded in black.
25. Green-Shaded Dragonfly Tattoo Design
With a relaxing green background, this dragonfly tattoo design has a dragonfly that seems to have translucent wings atop a meadow. Personalized with a name in the corner (Mya, in this case), it is a beautiful love tattoo tribute to a loved one who may be a fan of dragonflies.
26. Simple Wrist Dragonfly Tattoo Design
If you want to add a little ink to your wrist, this dragonfly wraps around it beautifully. Rather than having all of the detail of the wings and body, it is filled in with artistic patterns that each wing holds. Rather than cluttering the body, the wings don’t touch it at all!
27. Red and Black Small Dragonfly Tattoo Design
With black and red, this dragonfly is highlighted with incredible boldness through each part of the body. The body parts are assembled to make the whole dragonfly structure, rather than looking more realistic or whimsical.
28. Watercolor Dragonfly Tattoo Design
Watercolor has an incredible way of transforming a tattoo, and the same is true of this watercolor dragonfly tattoo. Though the dragonflies themselves are only available in black and white, the entire background is colored with blues, pinks, purples, and more. While one dragonfly hovers above, a much larger one decorates it below.
29. Shoulder Black-Brown Dragonfly Tattoo
With brown and black, this dragonfly tattoo shows you an endearing design that works for anyone. It rests over your shoulder and also shows tiny flowers alongside the dragonfly structure in the tattoo design.
30. Skull Dragonfly Tattoo Design
This dragonfly tattoo design consists of a dragonfly. Half of this dragonfly’s body is normal while one of its wings is skull-shaped. It is monochromatic and is shaded with black grey.
31. Rainbow Trailblazer Dragonfly Tattoo Design
This is a colorful tattoo design that shows a dragonfly flying away, leaving behind the trail of rainbow colors. Some of these colors can also be seen in the dragonfly structure and it looks like the dragonfly is splashing all the colors around.
32. Long-Tailed Blue Shade Dragonfly Tattoo Design
This dragonfly tattoo design runs from your shoulder to your middle back. This is blue and the dragonfly has an exceptionally long tail. The tail is thin and black while the wings are splashed with blue color giving it an incredibly beautiful look.
33. Flowery Blue Shaded Dragonfly Tattoo Design
This dragonfly tattoo design shows a small-sized dragonfly that is shaded in dark blue, light blue as well as white. It also has tiny flowers and spiraled leaves around it. The center of the dragonfly is thick and black and is short.
34. Small Black Shaded Dragonfly Tattoo Design
This dragonfly is exceedingly small and is elegantly shaded in just black color. Different shading techniques are used in the making of this dragonfly tattoo. It is monochromatic and the spine of the dragonfly is very thin and is a line.
35. Long Tailed Black Shaded Dragonfly Tattoo Design
This dragonfly tattoo design begins at your shoulders and runs down to your middle back, The spine or the center of the dragonfly is exceptionally long and is made up of white and black bead-like structures. The winds have very intricate designs.
36. Sea Green Flowery Shadow Shaded Dragonfly Tattoo Design
This dragonfly tattoo design sits at one of the shoulders. It is shaded in a sea-green sort of color. There are flowers of the same color on one side of the dragonfly – at a distance. There is also a shadow-like image beneath the dragonfly.
37. Rainbow Splash Dragonfly Tattoo Design
This is a very colorful tattoo design. It shows a happy green and yellow colored dragonfly that leaves behind a trail of rainbow colors. The dragonfly has pink and purple-colored wings and there are a lot of colors around it.
38. Pink and Purple Shaded Dragonfly Tattoo Design
If you love pink, you will find this dragonfly tattoo amazing. It is a small-sized dragonfly that is pink and purple. The shades are distributed beautifully, and the spine of the dragonfly is made with a glistening purple color.
39. Small-Sized Bluish-Green Dragonfly Tattoo Design
This is a cute and small dragonfly tattoo design. Two of its wings are shaded in a blue shade the other two are shaded in green and yellow. The spine or the center of the dragonfly is black and the whole structure is outlined in a dark black color.
40. Greyish-brown Dragonfly Tattoo Design
This dragonfly tattoo design is perfect for the back of your hand. The spine or the center of the dragonfly that holds its wings together is brown while the wings have been shaded in sparkling silver. You can also see a shadow-like image beneath the dragonfly.
41. Pendulum-Styled Dragonfly Tattoo Design
This dragonfly tattoo design is traditionally designed with pendulum-like structures hanging from its bottom. The wings have been minutely designed and different patterns have been flipped into them. Meanwhile, the head of the dragonfly is yellow and green.
42. Blue and Pink Color Splash Dragonfly Tattoo Design
This dragonfly tattoo design is a big one and would suit the widespread area of your back. The outline of the big dragonfly is done in black while the wigs are shaded in blue and pink. The colors look like they have been splashed onto the tattoo.
43. Black Shaded Pendulum-Styled Dragonfly Tattoo Design
This dragonfly tattoo design is small and is shaded in black. Meanwhile, it also has pendulum-like structures hanging down from its bottom. The wings have been very intricately designed and the designs are shaded in black with white spaces left in between.
44. Sparkling Sea Green Dragonfly Tattoo Design
This is a simple, small-sized tattoo design that has a small dragonfly. The wings of the dragonfly are colored in a sparkling shade of sea green, The spine or the center of the dragonfly is black and there is a shadow-like image beneath the dragonfly figure.
45. Small Rainbow Shaded Dragonfly Tattoo Designs
This dragonfly tattoo design is very colorful and has a small-sized dragonfly. The wings of the dragonfly are shaded in red and blue while the center of the dragonfly is shaded in green and yellow. The colors look like they are not definite and are splashed all over the tattoo design.
46. Simple Blue-Shade Dragonfly Tattoo Design
This one is an amazingly simple tribal tattoo design. The center of the dragonfly is a very thin line that begins from your shoulders and runs to the middle of your back. The wings of the dragonfly. The wings are shaded in blue with empty spaces left in between.
47. Thick and Dark Dragonfly Tattoo Design
This dragonfly looks more like a butterfly. It has huge, spread-out wings that are intricately designed and are black. The wings as well as the center of the dragonfly show different and unique patterns.
48. Small, Simple, Neck Nape Dragonfly Tattoo Design
This is an exceedingly small and simple dragonfly tattoo design that rests at the back of your neck at the beginning of your spinal cord. The neck tattoo is made up of only a thin black outline with no color at all.
49. Pink and Blue Shaded Dragonfly Tattoo Idea
This dragonfly tattoo idea is long-tailed and is shaded in pink as well as blue color. The colors are free-flowing and look like they have just been randomly splashed on the tattoo. The center of the dragonfly is pink in color while the wings are blue.
50. Twin Black Shaded Dragonfly tattoo idea
This dragonfly tattoo design has two dragonflies that are small in size and are intricately designed. They are black and are made up of a very thin black outline with no color filled in them.
51. Pink and Yellow Dragonfly Tattoo Design
This dragonfly tattoo design shows a small-sized dragonfly approaching a flower. The dragonfly is yellow and pink and is small in size Meanwhile, the flower is a shade of blue with a yellowish center.
52. Winged Dragonfly Tattoo Idea
This dragonfly tattoo design has a dragonfly that is sleek and thin. The center of the dragonfly is dark while it is also made up of nude-colored chain-like structures. The wings are also nude colored.
53. Dark, Glistening Dragonfly Tattoo Design
This dragonfly tattoo design is thick and dark. The design appears to be glistening. The nerve-like design inside the wings is black or brown and is thick. The dragonfly in this dragonfly tattoo design also has a thick center.
54. Minute-Sized Black Shaded Dragonfly Tattoo Idea
This dragonfly tattoo is for those who do not like big tattoos. This is an amazingly simple tattoo design with only one element – that is the dragonfly itself. The dragonfly is small and darkly shaded overall.
55. Blue Colored Dragonfly Tattoo Design
This is a long-tailed dragonfly tattoo design for girls. The dragonfly is blue and the head of the dragonfly is green. There are shades of black at the sides of the dragonfly too. The shadow-like image could also be seen beneath the dragonfly structure.
56. Simple Flower-like This Outline Dragonfly Tattoo Design
If it is looked at vaguely, this dragonfly tattoo design would look like more of a flower than a dragonfly. It is a thin, sleek outlined tattoo design that has no color in it. It is simple and small.
57. Very Small Dragonfly Tattoo Idea
This dragonfly tattoo design is exceedingly small and can be a perfect choice for a waist tattoo. The center of this dragonfly is a thin line while the wings are exceedingly small and are shaded in black. This dragonfly tattoo design has only one element, which is the dragonfly itself.
58. Pink and Green Geometrical Dragonfly Tattoo Design
This is a dragonfly tattoo design that is made up of various kinds of geometrical patterns and designs. The head of the dragonfly is shaded in green and yellow while the rest of the trail is shaded in pink and white. The winds are also shaded in pink and white.
59. Spread-Out Wings Pendulum-Styled Dragonfly Tattoo Design
This dragonfly tattoo design involves a dragonfly that has sleek, spread-out winds with intricate designs inside the wings. Pendulum-like structures are hanging from the bottom of this dragonfly.
60. Elaborate Pendulum Leaf Dragonfly Tattoo Design
This is a huge, spread-out dragonfly design. The dragonfly is blue and pendulum-like structures are hanging from its bottom. Above the head of the dragonfly, there are huge leaves that are shaded in green.
60 Best Dragonfly Tattoo Ideas
With so many options available to you, there HAS to be a dragonfly tattoo that speaks to your life. Do you want to combine this dragonfly tattoo is the wildness of watercolor? Do you want to make the insect look as realistic as possible? What about a whimsical dragonfly that leaves a trail of meaningful words behind? If the 60 tattoos here are any indication of what you could do, which one conveys what you mean the most?
