Lotus tattoo designs are the most popular of all the flora choices. They are beautiful as a stand alone tattoo, or can be paired with other eastern Asian images, e.g. they look great coupled with koi fish.
In addition to their beauty, the main reason people select lotus flower tattoos is because of their rich meaning. Lotus flowers are found in water. They germinate at the bottom of a pond – in the muck and mud – and grow toward the surface and the light. When they emerge at the surface, they flower. Tattoo enthusiast Christ Ryerson (2005) believes that the lotus flower is a metaphor for life in general, and “are also popular for people who have gone through a hard time and are now coming out of it.” Lotus flowers are viewed as the perfection of beauty and as a symbol for spiritual growth (i.e. coming out of the slime and into the sun).
There are many species of lotus flowers, and they are often equated with similar flowers like the water lily. It is often confused with the blue water lily. Lotus flowers are generally depicted as having a pad-like base with up reaching petals. Often, tendrils emerge from the center.
Because the lotus flower opens during the day and closes at night, it symbolizes the duality of nature, e.g. light and darkness, birth and death, male and female, sun and moon.
