Fox Tattoo – Meaning, Symbolism, Designs and Ideas

Fox is one of the rare animals ( just like the coyote) that has a certain reputation of a “cunning” animal. It followed her through history, both in written forms and in legends.

Remember all the fables and stories in which the fox is the main character?

The fox is always the one to win the fight, dispute or some other form of disagreement. She is considered to be very inteligent and interesting, almost mysterious.

Characteristically, foxes are always shown as clever and cunning creatures that will quickly advance to the solution no matter in what situation they find themselves, and no matter how many others do not see the way out of trouble.

The fox is a wise animal and rarely fails to get out of trouble.

The stories about foxes weren’t about her bad or evil character, it was about her ability to find a solution, her way to cope with any kind of situation. It is up to people to define what they think about them: some people think that those who are very inteligent must be mean too.

Even the ancient Greek Teumessians fox was so clever that the Greeks banned the  hunters to chase them because they have highly respected them and thought it would be a shame to hurt them. Greek people were usually paying attention only to those animals that they find important to the Gods.

Even different religions such as Judaism and Christianity have spoken of the fox and her cunningness through their stories. It’s a very famous comparison too.

There is a well-known story of false prophets who have been compared with clever foxes and who have been rejected for wanting to speak false in the name of the Lord.

Throughout the centuries, the fox has became a synonym for intelligence and cunningness. The fox was an animal to respect but sometimes also the animal who could do you wrong.

Residents of the ancient Peru thought of foxes as the greatest fighters, but this was not related to fox’s physical power as a warrior but to her strong mental abbilities and tireless power when it comes to psychological battles.

The fox has thus become a symbol of psychological warfare, and anyone who chooses a fox as a symbol in warfare would indirectly say that he has the mental strength to stay in combat as much as needed and no matter how hard.

Fox Tattoo - Meaning, Symbolism, Designs and Ideas

The fox also had a special significance in Finnish mythology where it was used as an example for learning the children of resourcefulness.

The fox was described as the cunning and witty animal and the children learned how to make solutions about the obstacles in life and how to learn to solve them, through stories about foxes.

It was the stories about the fox that would teach children to become creative in what looks an unskoveable situation.

Fox Tattoo, Meaning, Symbolism

For Indians, the fox is considered a particularly adaptable animal and a master of survival in the most harsh areas. The fox is appreciated for its ability to always adapt to the space in which it is located and to find the best way to handle the problems they encounter.

Fox is also considered an animal closely related to Earth and Mother Nature. Some of the tribes of Indians believe that the fox has stolen the gift of fire from spirits and brought it to people in the ancient times, while others see the fox as a symbol of unity.

Many cultures from the past have seen symbols of fertility and success in the fox. Many East Asian residents considered foxes their goddess messengers, so they left their food and sacrifices to secure good harvest and ensure that the goddess won’t harm them.

Foxes were often linked to femininity, so it was well known that the fox and the seductive woman could both be called “vixen”.

Foxes were particularly attractive to the Celtic because of their ability to move in dense and perky Celtic forests. They were astonished by their abbility to adapt to unknown grounds.

A terrible thing happened to foxes by the birth of Christianity in Europe when the fox, which until then was a pagan symbol, began to be considered a devilish symbol and thousands of foxes were exterminated by soldiers fought by faith.

It is assumed that the tradition of fox hunting is actually derived from that event and so foxes have become the main target of European hunters after this period.

In modern times, tradition is considered barbarism and it is increasingly calling for this bad hunting practice to end. Of course, there are always hunters who take pleasure in killing foxes, but they are in a small number.

There are not many animals that have such a closely related history with humans as foxes do. It is because people often admired foxes and they were always a part of human legends.

The meanings of fox tattoos

Foxes are attached to different human traits, so they can symbolize:

Intelligence and cunningness – the most known traits given to foxes. Someone who is as wise as a fox usually knows how to get the best out of each and every situation.

Wisdom – their ability to adapt is very popular amongst writers.

Sexuality and fertility – its tail was always connected to this symbolism

Femininity – it is often seen in cartoon characters that a female fox has beautiful eyelashes and tends to seduce animals around it

Fraud – the fox can something be a little selfish animal which will fight you to prove you wrong

Wealth  – the fox tends to be rich in experience and wisdom, all of the most positive traits, so this is a pretty popular symbol connected to it.

Adaptability – the fox, most of the times, can take the best out of the situation, even when it is really bad.

Instinct for survival – she knows exactly what to do in situations that could be important for her life

Although fox tattoos come in many variations of different sizes and colors, foxes never appear as superior animals that are life-threatening and can hurt you, but as wild animals that will always outsmart you.

In almost all cultures foxes are depicted as animals with highly developed mental abilities, excellent instincts for survival and as one of the wondrous animals in the forest.

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Nine tailed fox tattoo

The most interesting and most appreciated part of the fox’s body is, of course, its beautiful tail. It is a romantic symbol too, so many women decide to get it.

In the root of the word fox there is a part of the ancient word that signified something lush and brilliant.

The nine tailed fox was born as an Indian legend, but later became the symbol of the Japanese goddess of fertility, called Inari. Foxes have become known as her messengers and are considered to be top wise animals.

The legend also says that Inara’s foxes could transform into different colors as their wisdom grew. White, silver and gold were the most respected colors for a fox.

This Japanese legend speaks of foxes as representatives of wisdom, intelligence and cunningness. They are also considered animals that are closely related to the spiritual world.

Tribal Fox tattoo

Since a fox like animal occurs in many legends and is associated with many cultures, its symbolism differs greatly depending on which tribe or people we are talking about.

In most of these cultures, Fox is seen as a symbol of wisdom, intelligence and cunningness.

Native people used to have fox totems too, it represented something really important to the leaders. Besides, the foxes are one of the rare small animals that hunt so they are seen as something very powerful.

Tribal Fox Tattoos are usually done in communities where the fox is still an essential element of history.

Red Fox tattoo

The most popular species of foxes are red foxes. Apart from being considered the most beautiful fox (and therefore highly valued in the fur industry), it is often linked to the symbolism of femininity and sexuality.

So the tattoo of a red fox with a lush and challenging curved tail will talk about your sexuality, and the tattoo of a red fox with water or sun speaks of fox as a spiritual leader.

This tattoo is often placed on thighs ( this works especially for women), as well as on the lower part of the legs. One of the most chosen variant is a tattoo which represent a  fox with a tail wraped around the bearer’s ankle.

3D Fox tattoo

3D tattoos of animals are always a great tattoo choice. Why? It is because the animals made in 3D look very alive and seem to be very vivid.

There is no difference in the ink that artist uses for regular and the ink he uses for 3D tattoo, although many people think there is.

The difference is in design, and it shows the artist’s skills when he succeeds in making such realistic optical illusion that you think that the animal will jump from the skin.

This can be done with making a lot of shadows and changing sizes on some of the parts of an animal. Then it will apear like a picture in different sizes.

3D fox tattoo can be quite an impressive tattoo, especially if it is made in vivid colors or made very realistic.

Watercolor Fox tattoo

Watercolor tattoo is a great way to get a beautiful fox tattoo. This kind of tattoos, watercolor tattoos, are sometimes reffered to as the painterly tattoo’s. They are made by using several different techniques get the illusion that the tattoo looks just like the watercolor painting we are used to see.

These watercolor fox tattoos look very beautiful, with a lot of grading shades to achieve that special effect.

The artist who makes watercolor tattoos has to be great in his work. He uses elements such as splahes anf blurs but especially effective are the fades.

This watercolor fox tattoos are often made in shades of orange and red color and sometimes include other forest motives such as birds, flowers and trees.

The striking look can be achieved by adding special colors of flowers to make the red fox more distinctive amongst it.

Sketch style fox tattoo

This interesting way of tattooing is not as common as ordinary tattooing but it can be made in a very interesting way if the tattoo artist knows how to do it.

The sketched fox is mostly made as a cartoon character and sometimes it even looks like tge drawings were made by a kid.

The lines are not equal and the fox is even not completely balanced.

Minimalistic fox tattoo

Although these tattoos are very small and mostly show only the outline of the fox, they can still look interesting and secretive.

This is a great tattoo to get if you are maybe getting your first tattoo and you are a bit afraid of the whole process, but you want to get something that means to you.

They are especially cool when they are made for female because they often show the fox as a very feminine tattoo on the wrist, neck or ankle.

Sometimes they can be tattooed beneath or above it to make a statement: this tattoo is easily visible so it says a lot about the human that has it.

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