50+ of the BEST Semicolon Tattoo Designs

In recent years, you may have noticed a growing trend for tattoo artists and tattoo enthusiasts alike; they sport a semicolon tattoo in a visible portion of their body. This semicolon tattoo they have do not only look beautiful and simplistic but it also holds a valuable meaning to life and a growing movement to support the people who are losing the will to live. By wearing this tattoo, the body art industry is showing its solidarity to the people who need help. You can also have this tattoo as support to the growing movement but before you have one inked, let us first share with you a background on semicolon tattoos.

In this article, we will be sharing with you a background on semicolon tattoo designs. We will also give you the meaningful history of the movement this tattoo design supports while also sharing with you the various semicolon tattoo designs for men and women.

The Semicolon Tattoo: A Background

Before going deep into the meaning of the movement, think for a moment on how you use the semicolon. This punctuation mark is not that significant, right? You might even think of it as a nuisance during your grammar class days because you do not even know when and where to put this punctuation in a statement. You always have this doubt in yourself if you need to use a semicolon or a period. If this is the case with the majority, then why have it as a tattoo design? It does not make any sense! Well, to you it may not make sense but to the countless people that almost gave up on life, it makes sense; greatly makes sense.

The semicolon is simply explained as a punctuation mark that is often used by authors when they could have just ended the sentence but opted not to and instead continued on. In this context, one might ask what is the relevance of this explanation to a movement that is growing today. The answer to that question is that the semicolon is a symbol of a mental health and suicide awareness movement wherein the explanation of the punctuation mark kind of corresponds to the life of an individual. You, the author of your own life, could have decided to end it right then and there but opted not to. This meaningful definition of the punctuation gave birth to a movement of hope with the name Project Semicolon.

Project Semicolon

Project Semicolon is a non-profit mental health organization that functions primarily as an anti-suicide initiative. Founded in 2013, the organization aimed to “presenting hope and love to those who are struggling with depression, suicide, addiction, and self-injury.”

The organization simultaneously started a mental health and suicide awareness movement named Project Semicolon, just like the organization’s name. This movement aims to spread the semicolon punctuation mark as a symbol of hope for those who are in the dark. Their most famous initiative was the semicolon tattoo trend wherein they encourage people in having the semicolon symbol be inked to their skin as a form of solidarity to people who are dealing with mental illness and for those who are silently suffering from depression and anxiety. They specifically encourage people who knew personally knew someone who is a victim of suicide, depression, or substance abuse.

(source: www.wikipedia.org)

The movement gain prominence in July 2015 when people started sharing photos of their own semicolon tattoo designs through various social media services such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Snapchat to support the movement. The movement also gained mainstream media attention when 13 Reason Why, a Netflix series which discusses suicide, depression, and anxiety, gained notoriety due to their candid and graphic portrayal of suicide as something that must not be glorified.

Semicolon Tattoo Designs

The wonderful thing about semicolon tattoos is that since this tattoo design is very simplistic, the design does not prefer any gender or sexuality. The semicolon tattoo has been a symbol of solidarity which is why it is universally considered as a tattoo design for all. Men, women, lesbians, gays, bisexuals, transgenders, all genders in the spectrum fully embraced the semicolon tattoo as a sign of modern society’s continuing efforts to reduce the cases of suicides and depressions in communities harrowed by these problems.

Another point of interest as to why this tattoo design gained prominence is its versatility in design and body placement without backhanding the meaning of the symbol itself. You can incorporate the semicolon punctuation to any design and it will still hold its meaning of hope and solidarity.

Semicolon Tattoo On Men

As said above, men fully embraced the semicolon tattoo to signify their solidarity to the Project Semicolon movement and the aspirations it holds dear. Plenty of men are now adding the semicolon punctuation mark into their tattoo designs to show to other men that there is hope in everywhere you look.

This design is actually very prominent in men believe it or not because men are more prone to take their own lives than women. This can be attributed to the notion that men are strong individuals who need to face problems head-on. They tend to bottle up the problems that they cannot handle which if repeatedly done could lead to depression and eventually, suicide. This is not to say that women do not have suicide problems but the figures are more prominently leaning to men because a majority of all successful suicide attempts (we really do not think that this must be called a successful suicide attempt since this is death we are talking) are made by men since they tend to use violent means like firearms, hanging, and suffocation which is more likely to result in death.

(source: www.theguardian.com)

Due to the prominence of suicide in men, they have embraced the semicolon tattoo full heartedly to show support with fellow comrades that there is nothing to be afraid of when sharing your problems with others and that suicide will never be the answer to one’s problems as you have nothing to gain and everything to lose.

Here are some of the semicolon tattoo designs for men that we saw on the web.

1. A couple semicolon tattoo situated on the hand and the wrist.

2. a small semicolon tattoo on the wrist.

3. A large wrist semicolon tattoo on an arm with visible evidence of self-harm.

4. A semicolon tattoo on the wrist designed with a flower-like structure.

5. A semicolon tattoo on the wrist.

6. A semicolon tattoo on the wrist with the words “Not done” below.

7. A wrist tattoo of the word “warrior” and an arrow with the semicolon replacing the letter i.

8. a semicolon tattoo on the side of the wrist.

9. a wrist tattoo of a semicolon with the words “My story isn’t over yet”.

10. A watercolor tattoo of a semicolon on the wrist.

11. Another watercolor tattoo of a semicolon on the wrist but this time without a black base.

12. A semicolon tattoo situated on the thumb.

13. A sleeve tattoo of a bullet with a semicolon.

14. A sketchy sleeve tattoo of a semicolon with the words “our story isn’t over yet”.

15. A medium-sized leg tattoo of a semicolon with the words “my story isn’t over yet” with the word “isn’t” in red for emphasis.

16. A wrist tattoo of a cross and a semicolon side by side.

17. An arm tattoo of a chemical bonding symbol with the semicolon punctuation mark.

18. A large lower back tattoo of a semicolon.

19. A couple arm tattoo of a an arrow and a heart with a semicolon.

20. A semicolon tattoo on the ankle with two lines.

21. A semicolon tattoo on the ankle with the upper dot fading into a flock of birds.

22. A tattoo of a heartline you usually find in ECG Machines with a semicolon punctuation mark in the middle.

23. A wrist tattoo of a semicolon as water droplets (presumably they are teardrops)

24. An arm tattoo of the words “Fight on” with the letter i replaced by the semicolon.

25. A detailed semicolon tattoo on the wrist.

Semicolon Tattoo On Women

The case is the same with women, they have full heartedly embraced the semicolon tattoo as a symbol of solidarity to their sisters who are suffering from depression, anxiety, and suicidal thoughts.

Though the figures are saying that men have more suicide deaths than women, that does not mean that women are stronger than men or that fewer women are attempting to end their lives. Both genders are susceptible to suicide, anyone at any time and anywhere can suffer from the clutches of suicidal thoughts. True that they are more vocal about problems than men but that does not mean that they can cope any better than men.

With the semicolon tattoo as a symbol of solidarity to the Project Semicolon Movement and to their sisters who are silently suffering from depression, anxiety, and the thought of death, the women who sports a semicolon tattoo aims to show that they are not alone in the fight and that they can help in any way that they can.

Here are some semicolon tattoo designs on women that caught our eyes while browsing the internet.

1. A wrist tattoo of a semicolon disguised as a butterfly with the word “Strength” below in cursive.

2. A wrist semicolon tattoo in the middle of an infinity sign made by two hearts.

3. A watercolor tattoo of a semicolon on the ankle.

4. A semicolon tattoo on the wrist disguised with a mermaid tail and a seashell.

5. A watercolor tattoo of an infinity sign with a semicolon.

6. An ankle tattoo of a semicolon punctuation mark with typical watercolor tattoo detailing.

7. A watercolor tattoo with the semicolon and the words “my story isn’t over” in cursive.

8. A leg tattoo of a semicolon with the outline of a bunny rabbit.

9. A wrist tattoo of a panda with the semicolon punctuation mark disguised as the ears and arm of the panda.

10. A mandala tattoo with the semicolon.

11. An ankle tattoo of two leaves forming the semicolon punctuation mark.

12. a medium-sized leg tattoo of a semicolon formed by two ink drops.

13. A wrist tattoo of a heart with the semicolon punctuation mark in the middle.

14. A wrist tattoo of a heart with the semicolon.

15. A semicolon tattoo on the wrist with the upper dot forming the outline of a cat’s face.

16. A large back tattoo of a semicolon with the upper dot fading into a flock of birds.

17. a tattoo of two arrows with the semicolon punctuation mark in the middle.

18. An artsy arm tattoo of an arrow and a compass with the semicolon punctuation mark near the head of the arrow.

19. a large leg tattoo of the words “isn’t over yet” in cursive with the semicolon punctuation mark ending the statement.

20. A mandala tattoo with the semicolon on an arm with visible signs of self-harm.

21. An ankle tattoo of a semicolon with the upper dot forming a red heart.

22. A semicolon tattoo with the upper dot as a heart.

23. An ankle tattoo of a semicolon punctuation mark with the upper dot as Mickey Mouse.

24. An ankle tattoo of a semicolon with the upper dot as a cat’s face.

25. A wrist tattoo of a semicolon with an anchor and a red heart.

What Can You Do To Help?

Showing that you are one with the movement by having a semicolon tattoo be inked on your skin is already a huge help. The tattoo symbolizes hope and by having this tattoo you might help someone who is in the dark when they will see your tattoo. They can be reminded that there is more to life than just giving up. The semicolon tattoo can be a reminder to them that this is not the end of their fight.

If you are just curious about the movement and do not desire to have one be tattooed on your skin, we totally respect that but there is still a way that you can still help. By talking about depression, anxiety, and suicide openly and not treating it as a taboo or just a trend on the younger generation, you are already helping the movement by changing the stigma of these problems and bit by bit the views of those around will change and they will be more supportive on issues about mental health.

By doing these things, we can help countless people who are suffering silently and we can definitely make the world a better place.