Thats an unwritten rule. Never ask the meaning of the nautical stars. Broadly, it's about a safe return home or keeping your direction in life. But specifically, people tend to get these for very fucked up reasons, and the conversation is just better avoided. Like, "i do <insert bad thing>, and dont really intend to stop, but these star tattoos remind me to try to follow the right path".
Seafarer here. Nautical star represents Polaris, or the north star. Its all about finding your way home.
During the 90s/00s they were popularised by emo/nu metal music. Became synonymous with the genre so people just got them because they looked cool and represented their crowd. Maybe symbolises some kind of struggle for some people, in which you're lost and find your way back to yourself.
"Because it looked cool," is a way more common tattoo meaning than people want to admit.
I get real annoyed at the people who think there's some deep meaning to everything and that you can't just ask. Maybe don't ask strangers, but you can ask people you know why they got their tattoo.
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u/3HoursSober 4d ago
But do they mean something? Or is it just a tasteless tattoo?