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50+ of the Best Shamrock Tattoo Ideas to Celebrate the Proud Irish in You

By Jason Hamilton / March 12, 2019
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Halloween, horse racing, and that good old black stuff, Guinness; also, don’t forget the iconic music geniuses like the rock pop band U2 and even Sinead O’Connor, who wouldn’t Irish culture? Thanks to the Irishes, we have a number of events to celebrate like the Halloween and St. Patrick’s Day, good drink, and even good music to enjoy.

There’s a lot to be proud of, indeed. Why not say it loud and proud with the use of body art? There sure are a lot of stuff that can symbolize your heritage.

There are a lot of things that can symbolize the Irish culture that you can use for a tattoo, though. But if you’re going to ask us, we highly suggest that you get a shamrock tattoo. It’s cute, unique, meaningful, and you can play with its design to make it more personal too. But how does it differ from a four-leaf clover? Don’t worry if you get confused, we got your back. Let’s take a closer look at it, shall we?

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Shamrock vs. the Four-Leaf Clover Meanings

Both the shamrock and the four-leaf clover are, well, clovers, an herbaceous plant. However, just because they came from the same plant doesn’t mean they are the same. Apparently, they have some differences too.

For starters, four-leaf clovers, needless to say, have four leaflets. They are rare. In fact, the odds of finding one is one in 10,000. And because of this, people since consider it as a symbolism for luck.

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A shamrock, on the other hand, has three leaves. And since it is the common number of leaflets of a clover, people don’t usually value it as a symbol of luck. But for the Irish, it is their (unofficial) symbol for their country. For them, a shamrock’s leaves represent the Holy Trinity and St. Patrick as well. Some colleges and universities use the shamrock as a symbol too, just like the University of Notre Dame.

Best Shamrock Tattoo Ideas

Just like the four-leaf clover, the shamrock also works as a nice tattoo not just because you can use it to represent your heritage. Rather, it also has some nice aesthetics, especially if you play with its design. Speaking of, in case you’re eyeing on this symbol for your first or next tattoo, here are some of the best shamrock tattoo ideas that we can recommend.

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Celtic

Celtic is actually a category of related ethnic groups like the Irish and Scots. Hence, adding some Celtic details to your shamrock tattoo can make it all the more perfect to show off your heritage and culture. Adding some Celtic knot details alone will give your tattoo some oomph. For starters, these knots are complete loops that neither have a start not finish. This kind of detail will not just represent your heritage and culture but it also symbolizes faith, loyalty, love, and/or friendship. Here are some best shamrock tattoo ideas with Celtic details that you might want to consider for your first or maybe next tattoo.

A Celtic shamrock tattoo in black and green ink placed on the hip area

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An ankle tattoo of a shamrock with Celtic details

A Celtic shamrock tattoo on the left shoulder cap

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A shamrock made with Celtic knots in grayish brown and green ink

A tattoo of a shamrock with leaflets made with Celtic knots

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A Celtic shamrock tattoo enclosed in Celtic knots forming a circle

Irish Flag

There’s nothing better than adding your country’s flag to your tattoo in showing off your culture through body art. Make your shamrock tattoo colored with the colors of your country’s flag, morph them together, or make it the backdrop for your shamrock tattoo, there’s plenty of designs to choose from. Here are some ideas for that.

A 3D tattoo of an Irish flag with a silhouette of a shamrock at the center

A Celtic shamrock tattoo with leaflets in green, white, and orange ink to represent the Irish flag

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A Celtic cross tattoo with a shamrock at the center with colors resembling the Ireland’s flag

A shamrock with Irisha and American flags as the backdrop

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A shamrock colored with the colors of the Irish flag paired with a name tattoo that reads, “Uncle Eddie”

Outline

If you want to lean on the simpler side, you can just have an outline of the shamrock etched on your skin. It’s minimalist yet it still is eye-catching.

A shamrock tattoo in green and yellow ink placed on the upper part of the left arm

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A shamrock tattoo outline in dark green ink placed on the wrist

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A shamrock in black ink tattooed on the wrist

A tiny shamrock tattoo in black ink etched on the forearm

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An outline tattoo of shamrock placed on the ankle area

Watercolor

You can also make your tattoo look like a watercolor painting or add some watercolor details to it. It will definitely make your tattoo eye-catching and all the more aesthetically pleasing too.

Shamrocks paired with a four-leaf clover

An outline tattoo of a shamrock with colors of the Irish flag that looks like a watercolor painting

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A multi-colored shamrock that looks almost like a prism

An ankle tattoo of a shamrock with a splat of blue ink as backdrop

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Another watercolor ankle tattoo of a shamrock

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A watercolor shamrock on the calf

A shamrock paired with a four-leaf clover and abstract details

Banner tattoos are also versatile and can work with shamrock tattoos. It provides some space that will help you make your tattoo even more personalized. Here, you can add yours or a loved one’s name or initials, your favorite quote, or even any inspirational word tattoo. Here are some inspirations on how you can combine them.

Three shamrocks paired with dice and banner tattoos with a text that reads “life is better”

A Celtic cross with a shamrock in the middle paired with a banner tattoo with names placed on the arm

A combination of shamrock and banner tattoo with a surname that reads “Matthews”

Three shamrocks paired with a banner tattoo inked on the calf

A shamrock wrapped with banners with text that says, “The Luck (0f) Irish”

Vine

A plant and a vine tattoo also make a good pair not just because of their nature in the real world but vine tattoos can also make your shamrock tattoo significant. It can represent growth and even unity with nature. Take a look at some of these samples on how you can work these two together.

A unique white ink tattoo of a shamrock paired with vine

A vine filled with shamrocks etched on the right leg

 

A shamrock paired with vine tattooed on the hip

A shamrock tattoo made with vine

A combination of vine, shamrock, musical notes, and infinity tattoo designs

Plain

If you’re still not sure of how you will design your shamrock tattoos, why not make it simple at first? Then decide on the additional details and symbols later if you want. Here are some ideas for that.

A simple shamrock tattooed on the right ankle

A super simple and tiny shamrock tattoo etched on the rib area

Another simple shamrock tattoo placed on the left wrist

Another simple wrist tattoo of a shamrock but is much smaller

A much bigger but still simple shamrock tattoo on the left wrist

Image result for simple shamrock tattoo

A simple shamrock paired with a four-leaf clover tattooed on the back area

Other symbols and details

If you still haven’t decided on your shamrock tattoo’s design, you might want to take a look at these other design combination samples too.

A shamrock paired with a word tattoo that reads, “Irish Pride”

A shamrock couple tattoo with text that says, “I love you more than yesterday;” one of the best shamrock tattoo ideas for couples, right?

A colored tattoo of a baby leprechaun sitting on a shamrock

A unique geometric shamrock tattoo on the calf

A back tattoo of a shamrock with a name on each of its leaflets

A sketch-like shamrock tattoo placed near the ankle

A shamrock tattooed just below the nape decorated with swirls of yellow, green, yellow-green, and blue-green ink

This shamrock tattoo is a combination of Celtic details and Irish flag inspiration

This shamrock is combined with Claddagh and Celtic knot tattoo  designs

A shamrock tattoo made with unique abstract swirls in black ink

A traditional tattoo of a shamrock paired with some Claddagh details made

Shamrocks paired with a Claddagh tattoo made using the traditional technique

A unique shamrock tattoo with geometric details

Whether you want to show off your Irish culture and heritage or if you just want to show the world how much of a fan of the Irish culture you are, a shamrock tattoo is one of the body art designs that we highly recommend. While there are many symbols that can represent Irish culture, a shamrock is probably the most popular one. So why not have it inked on your skin now?

 

 


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About the author

Jason Hamilton

Jason has been an avid fan of tattoos for over 13 years now. He is currently 35 years old, and he got his first tattoo at the age of 22. Since then, he has added over 20 tattoos to his collection. He is also into writing, which is why he decided to celebrate both of his passion and hobby through tats ‘n’ rings. Jason dreams of having his very own tattoo parlor soon. Jason would be very happy to answer any questions about tattoos that you may have! Leave a comment below and he’ll answer it for you right away!

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