Crow Tattoo Designs & Their Meaning

Crow tattoos are eye-catching, beautiful, intriguing, rich in meaning, and they do know how to make a statement. With several meanings attached to crows, having a tattoo of one says a lot about your personality and perception of things.

Crows are exquisite, sharp-looking, and mystical creatures, and they’re trendy across many communities. There’s a deep pool of designs that would look good with a crow tattoo. The same goes for the colors, but you must be careful to choose a color hue that agrees with your undertone.

Meanings Behind Crow Tattoos

The crow has both bad and good meanings. In some cultures, the bird may symbolize bad omens and sometimes death. Primarily, its negative impression is caused by its nature to neglect its offspring right after they hatch.

Crows are also known to turn on each other and are very much linked to the macabre, especially since artwork depicts them as pecking out human eyes. This may be why their collective noun is a ‘murder’ of crows.

In Greek mythology, a crow was used to deliver bad news to Athena, who changed the crow’s feathers to black from white, and the bird was henceforth forbidden to enter Acropolis.

Crows are very intelligent. They have a unique language, and their cawing sounds represent different meanings. In Japanese and Chinese culture, they’ve always been seen as a representation of creativity; they’re depicted as a loving symbol.

Native Americans believe the crow to be a spirit guide that offers guidance and inspiration. It was also considered a good fortune to encounter a dead crow in the Middle Ages.

The numbers of crows in a tattoo have different meanings:

One: Bad omen
Two: Good luck
Three: Good health
Four: Increase in wealth
Five: Fatal sickness
Six: Death

Popular Crow Tattoo Designs and Body Placements

Among others, these are some of the most popular crow tattoo designs:

Fearless till the end
Crow carrying a red rose
Leading souls through the darkness
Crow using its higher perspective
Watching over from a finger

The size, visibility, visual effect, and sometimes the name of the design will determine the body area that works in its favor.

Fearless Till the End

This intricate design is of a fox glaring fearlessly and snarling, looking ahead, and a crow below it mirroring the same expression. The image depicts strength, fearlessness, and readiness to defend your own.

You may also get a loyal vibe from the two animals toward one another because it seems like they’re defending each other. It’s a pretty cool design with a beautiful and deep meaning.

This eye-catching tattoo design will mostly be found on the following body parts:

Forearm
Sleeve
Chest
Back

Crow Carrying a Red Rose

In this design, you’ll see a crow clutching a red rose with its beak. It kind of matches the Japanese and Chinese beliefs that a crow is a loving symbol, in the sense that the rose represents love.

The most common body areas for this are:

Forearm
Sleeve
Shin
Calf

Leading Souls Through the Darkness

This design shows a crow flying while holding onto a skull. In most cases, skulls symbolize death, but in some, they’re a representation of a departed soul that has moved on to a happy place, much like sugar skull tattoos.

This tattoo design could be interpreted as the same, guiding the deceased spirit to a resting place through the darkness in the afterlife.

There are numerous places to locate this design:

Shoulder
Forearm
Chest
Side of the head
Back
Obliques
Stomach

Crow Using Its Higher Perspective

This one has a crow sitting on a tree branch looking down from a bird’s point of view. The design is creative and requires a tattoo artist with lots of experience.

Due to its size and dynamics, this one needs ample space, so you’re most likely to find it on the:

Back
Chest
Obliques
Arm
Forearm
Shoulder

Watching Over From a Finger

This design is pretty simple. The crow’s size is reduced to fit a finger where the tattoo is drawn. It’s facing down, as if watching over something.

The best location for this style of tattoo is clearly on the finger, although you could have it anywhere with a finger tattooed as a part of the design.

A Devoted Companion

Think of a realistic crow tattoo on the forearm. It looks like it’s perched itself there, comfortable in the person’s presence. You could portray this as the crow being your friend, watching over you as a guardian.

The most appropriate body part for this tattoo is the shoulder, but it can work as part of a sleeve, too, perhaps with the crow’s natural habit in the background or melded with other designs.

Rainbow-Winged Tattoo

This is an excellent example of how versatile crow tattoos can be. A crow with rainbow-colored wings is a rare sight, and designs like this are a unique and beautiful work of art to behold.

This beautiful art piece can be placed in the following body parts:

Thigh
Sleeve
Foreman
Back
Shin
Calf
Chest
Back

Merging With the Forces of Nature

The design shows a crow flying majestically and effortlessly through nature’s elements at their toughest—strong wind, and the scorching sun; the coldness of the night with a high full moon, and an unforgiving drought, which is represented by leafless branches.

The crow looks unscathed and unbothered by what mother nature may throw at it. This tattoo design may be intended to show resilience, strength, perseverance, and prosperity. The crow looks one with nature and its forces.

Consider these placements for this design:

Forearm
Back
Chest
Shoulder
Obliques

Crow Shapeshifting

The pixelated tattoo shows the incredible ability for a crow to shift its shape. This design is original, creative, and takes lots of experience.

This intricate and brilliant work of art is suitable on the forearm and shoulder so that when the arm moves, the crow looks like it’s flying or shapeshifting.

Blue Crow

This design features a crow with blue feathers. Known as Gralha-azul, from Brazil, the bird is both legendary and real. The blue crow protects the araucaria tree and helps spread its seeds. The crow is sleek, magnificent, standing tall in its glory, and the color fits the bird.

This tattoo design best suits the:

Forearm
Sleeve
Shin
Calf
Shoulder

These places are ideal since it’s the type of design to show it off. It’d be a shame to hide such an exquisite art piece.

Red-Eyed Crow

This design is simple, but still breathtaking. The eyes of the crow are red and may be a symbol of foresight.

Consider any bodily location for this crow tattoo, but if you want it to be a focal tattoo, then go for the chest or back. It’s also popular on the arm as a sleeve or the lower leg.

Color Combinations for Crow Tattoos

Although many instantly see crows as black, that isn’t always the case, plus that doesn’t mean you can’t give the tattoo artist poetic license.

When combined with different designs, consider crow tattoos with a splash of color. For instance, why not red or white eyes?

Did you know that some crows have white plumage? This is an ideal opportunity to get a negative tattoo or use white ink, which isn’t as popular as the traditional black. Also, think about brown for the feathers or go wild with an array of blues and greens.

Even if you wanted to stick with the black-themed crow, consider orange and yellow for the beak and eyes. Tattoo artists have also been creative with the feathers.