InkCraftAries Tattoo Ideas, Designs and Meaning
37 original aries designs drawn for InkCraftBy Uladzimir TumanauUpdated
An Aries piece comes down to one shape, the spiral horn, in the glyph and in the animal alike. A tight spiral closes in on itself as the ink spreads, so open the coil wider than looks right.
Black and white minimalist aries tattoo design, outline stencil: the Aries zodiac symbol Try it on — Black and white minimalist aries tattoo design, outline stencil: the Aries zodiac symbol
Black and grey traditional aries tattoo design: the Aries zodiac symbol Try it on — Black and grey traditional aries tattoo design: the Aries zodiac symbol
Black and grey illustrative aries tattoo design: the head of a ram Try it on — Black and grey illustrative aries tattoo design: the head of a ram
Black and grey dotwork aries tattoo design Try it on — Black and grey dotwork aries tattoo design
Black and white geometric aries tattoo design, outline stencil Try it on — Black and white geometric aries tattoo design, outline stencil
Color trash polka aries tattoo design Try it on — Color trash polka aries tattoo design
Black and grey sketch aries tattoo design Try it on — Black and grey sketch aries tattoo design
Black and grey illustrative aries and goat tattoo design: the head of a ram Try it on — Black and grey illustrative aries and goat tattoo design: the head of a ram
Black and grey ornamental aries and goat tattoo design: the ram's face and large, curling horns Try it on — Black and grey ornamental aries and goat tattoo design: the ram's face and large, curling horns
Black and white geometric aries and goat tattoo design, outline stencil: an Aries ram's head Try it on — Black and white geometric aries and goat tattoo design, outline stencil: an Aries ram's head
Black and grey illustrative aries and goat tattoo design Try it on — Black and grey illustrative aries and goat tattoo design
Black and white linework aries and goat tattoo design, outline stencil Try it on — Black and white linework aries and goat tattoo design, outline stencil
Black and white blackwork aries and goat tattoo design Try it on — Black and white blackwork aries and goat tattoo design
Black and grey illustrative aries and constellation tattoo design: the Aries zodiac sign Try it on — Black and grey illustrative aries and constellation tattoo design: the Aries zodiac sign
Black and grey ornamental aries and goat tattoo design: the head of an Aries ram Try it on — Black and grey ornamental aries and goat tattoo design: the head of an Aries ram
Black and white linework aries and moon tattoo design, outline stencil Try it on — Black and white linework aries and moon tattoo design, outline stencil
Color traditional aries and goat tattoo design Try it on — Color traditional aries and goat tattoo design
Black and white linework aries and goat tattoo design, outline stencil Try it on — Black and white linework aries and goat tattoo design, outline stencil
Black and white blackwork aries and fire tattoo design Try it on — Black and white blackwork aries and fire tattoo design
Black and grey ornamental aries and leaf tattoo design Try it on — Black and grey ornamental aries and leaf tattoo design
Black and white fine line aries and planet tattoo design, outline stencil Try it on — Black and white fine line aries and planet tattoo design, outline stencil
Color neo traditional aries and fire tattoo design Try it on — Color neo traditional aries and fire tattoo design
Black and grey illustrative aries and flower tattoo design Try it on — Black and grey illustrative aries and flower tattoo design
Color traditional aries and star tattoo design Try it on — Color traditional aries and star tattoo design
Black and white fine line aries and constellation tattoo design, outline stencil Try it on — Black and white fine line aries and constellation tattoo design, outline stencil
Black and white fine line aries and skull tattoo design, outline stencil: a ram's skull Try it on — Black and white fine line aries and skull tattoo design, outline stencil: a ram's skull
Black and white geometric aries and skull tattoo design, outline stencil Try it on — Black and white geometric aries and skull tattoo design, outline stencil
Black and grey ornamental aries and goat tattoo design Try it on — Black and grey ornamental aries and goat tattoo design
Black and grey illustrative aries and goat tattoo design: the head of a ram Try it on — Black and grey illustrative aries and goat tattoo design: the head of a ram
Black and grey sketch goat tattoo design: two rams in mid-charge, about to clash horns Try it on — Black and grey sketch goat tattoo design: two rams in mid-charge, about to clash horns
Black and grey biomechanical goat tattoo design: a ram's head with a biomechanical twist Try it on — Black and grey biomechanical goat tattoo design: a ram's head with a biomechanical twist
Color watercolor goat tattoo design: a baby goat Try it on — Color watercolor goat tattoo design: a baby goat
Black and white illustrative goat tattoo design: the head of a ram Try it on — Black and white illustrative goat tattoo design: the head of a ram
Black and grey dotwork skull and goat tattoo design Try it on — Black and grey dotwork skull and goat tattoo design
Color traditional goat and fire tattoo design: a ram's head engulfed in flames Try it on — Color traditional goat and fire tattoo design: a ram's head engulfed in flames
Black and white linework skull and goat tattoo design, outline stencil Try it on — Black and white linework skull and goat tattoo design, outline stencil
Black and grey ornamental goat and leaf tattoo design: a ram's head Try it on — Black and grey ornamental goat and leaf tattoo design: a ram's head
Tap any design to see it on your own skin in the try-on — no signup.
This set of 37 aries designs, by the numbers
- Styles represented
- illustrative (7), ornamental (5), traditional (4), linework (4), geometric (3), fine line (3)
- Black-and-grey vs colour
- 84% black-and-grey, 16% colour
- Most often drawn with
- goat, skull, fire, constellation
Counted from the 37 designs shown on this page. Every one was drawn for InkCraft — none are scraped or reposted. Free to reference with a link to this page.
What a aries tattoo means
Aries is the first sign, and the reading is beginning rather than dominance. A ram goes forward and does not reverse well, which is a statement about initiative and about the difficulty of stopping once started, and the second half is the part people usually mean.
The glyph is two curves meeting at a point and turning outward, which is a pair of horns drawn as simply as possible. It is one of the few zodiac glyphs that is genuinely a picture of its animal rather than an abstraction.
Fire runs under it. Aries is a fire sign, and the associations of heat, impulse and things beginning quickly belong to the sign as much as the ram does, which is why flame is the most common addition to the design.
The ram is worth separating from the goat it is often drawn as. A ram has heavy curling horns that spiral sideways from the skull and a blunt muzzle; a goat has straight or backward-swept horns and a narrower face. Artists working from a generic reference tend to produce the goat, which belongs to Capricorn, and the difference is visible to anyone who knows either animal.
Where the design comes from
The constellation is Babylonian and the ram association reached Greece with it, tied to the golden fleece. The first-sign status is older still and comes from the spring equinox once sitting in Aries, which it no longer does: precession moved it into Pisces two thousand years ago, and the sign kept the position anyway.
Choosing yours
- The horn spiral is the hardest curve in zodiac work. A tight spiral fills in as ink spreads, so either open the coil wider than looks right or use a faceted treatment that renders the curve as straight segments.
- Decide whether the ram is the subject or the glyph is. A ram head is a portrait needing 10 cm or more; the glyph holds at any size and is unmistakable. They compete for attention when combined.
Size, cost and placement
How big, and what it costs
The glyph alone is a shop minimum. A ram head with full horns is a three-to-four-hour sitting at 12 cm or more, most of it spent on the horn spirals and the fleece.
Where it sits, and how much it hurts
The glyph suits small flat fields: the wrist, the inner forearm, behind the ear. A ram head wants width for the horn spread, so the outer upper arm, the chest and the shoulder blade work better than a narrow limb.
What to ask your artist
- How open the horn spiral will be, and whether it will still read once the black spreads.
- Whether the field is wide enough for the horn spread or the design is being compressed.
- If flame is included, how it will be kept distinct from the fleece.
Prices vary widely by city and artist — treat these as session lengths rather than quotes, and expect a shop minimum on anything small. The cost guide turns hours into money by size, placement and style.
Common questions
Why is a ram about beginnings?
Beginning rather than dominance. Aries is the first sign, and a ram goes forward and does not reverse well, which is a statement about initiative and about how hard it is to stop once started.
Why is Aries the first sign?
Because the spring equinox once sat in it. Precession moved the equinox into Pisces about two thousand years ago and the sign kept the position regardless, which is true of the whole zodiac.
Why do ram horns age badly?
Because a tight spiral closes in on itself as ink spreads. Open the coil wider than looks right at the time of tattooing, or choose a faceted treatment that renders the curve as straight segments instead.
Glyph or the ram?
The glyph holds at any size and is genuinely a picture of the horns rather than an abstraction. A ram head is a portrait and needs 10 cm or more. Combined, they compete for the same attention.
What a aries tattoo can mean
The meanings this motif carries on the pages that argue them. Each line is that page's own reason for including it.
- Strength tattoos
- The ram goes in head first. People born under the sign wear the glyph or the horns for a stubbornness they are proud of, and it reads as strength before it reads as astrology.
See it on your skin before you commit
InkCraft places any of these designs on a photo of you — scaled, wrapped and shaded to the placement you pick.