40+ Popular Best Friend Tattoo Design Ideas (2024 Updated)
There are a lot of ways to describe a best friend. It’s someone who you can confide to, as well as your partner in crime. Whether your best friend and you were close since birth, growing up or you met at some point later in life, only you know how precious and special is the bond you create between each other. There are a lot of ways to celebrate the friendship and love that you share with your friends. One of such ways is getting a matching best friend tattoo.
Tattoos have become a trend of manifesting and self-expression in many ways throughout the last decades, and even centuries as tattoos have been around for a very long time. With that in mind, many people considered getting a tattoo to mark some important moment in their life.
That can be getting your first job, meeting your significant other, some important date or event that left a huge impression on you, or anything else.
In the same way, your best friend may have encouraged you or inspired you to ink your body with a beautiful symbol, date, quote, or their name, or something else that is the representation of the bond that you both may share.
If you wanted to celebrate your friendship, with a tattoo, or pluck inspiration for a matching best friend tattoo, you’ve come to the right place.
We’ll detail the symbolism of tattooing the matching tattoos between you and your best friend, while also highlighting some of the most creative best friend tattoo ideas and designs that will help you make an informed decision about which one is the best to take.
Tattoos have been around for thousands of years. Although they can hardly be preserved on the skin throughout history, various data and art throughout history show us that tattoos were inked on the body for different reasons.
In some cases, a tattoo can mark a strong bond between two people. Oftentimes, it’s siblings or spouses, but commonly it’s also seen that best friends decide to ink a significant symbol of their best friend. On many occasions, however, people opt to choose a matching tattoo to build a stronger connection with their friends.
Before we take a look at the best friend tattoo ideas and designs, let’s decipher the symbolism behind these special tattoos that made an important part of the tattooing culture.
Symbolism Of Best Friend Tattoos
We believe that the idea and desire for best friend tattoos and matching friends tattoos came from the idea of leaving a permanent mark of friendship between two people.
Making a symbol that will always remind them of the friendship bond they built, but also to use it to flaunt to their other friends and other people for the most original matching tattoo.
Best friends who truly love and respect each other, who stand up and fight for one another find various ways to nourish friendship. One of them is tattooing a symbol on their body, usually arm so that they can match it. However, it’s understandable that not everyone feels comfortable with getting a tattoo, as it can be a painful process for some.
Instead, they wear matching haircuts, clothes, makeup, or anything else that makes them identify as one. If you’ve ever wanted to get a matching tattoo with your best friend, or tattoo a date or their name, if you feel like you’re brave enough for that, you’ve come to the right place.
Best friend tattoos can also be compared to a less painful version of the blood pact. Throughout history, many people wanted to ensure the loyalty of their best friends, even when they’re far away. That said, they formed blood pacts which would include either cutting a part of the palm to scar it and prove loyalty, or pricking fingers of each other to make a connection of blood.
It’s also a bolder version of getting matching necklaces or bracelets. After a time jewelry can get damaged and tear. Even worse, it can get lost which could make you feel bad or even guilty. Tattoos are on your skin at all times, and they’re not going anywhere.
This is a less painful and less harmful way to celebrate the timeless power of friendship, and if you’ve been thinking about getting a tattoo with your best friend, this symbolism will help you choose the symbol.
Eternity
You may meet many friends throughout your life, but only some of them will be willing to stick with you through thick and thin. Such people are precious and can be found only a handful of times in life. Such friendship can’t be broken no matter what and will last you the entire eternity.
With that in mind, many best friends celebrate their lasting and powerful bond of friendship with the symbol of infinity. Infinity is the most beautiful and accurate symbol of eternity. It’s elegant, sophisticated, and can be made both big and small.
More importantly, all genders will be comfortable with it, as it’s gender-neutral. You can always add more symbols to specify what kind of bond you’re trying to symbolize with the infinity friendship sign.
Also Read: 60+ Amazing Infinity Tattoo Ideas 2023 (And Celebrities)
Loyalty
The second most important symbol of matching a best friend tattoo is loyalty. A strong friendship bond can last more than some relationships because of loyalty. Most loyal friends will stick around and provide meaningful advice and help when their best friend needs it.
Loyalty also means that no one can ever be capable of compromising the strong friendship bond that you and your friend can share. That being said, loyalty is one of the best attributes that describe the matching best friends tattoo.
It’s not a best friend if he or she is not loyal. Remember that!
Affection
A friendship bond between two people is inseparable if they are full of understanding, loyalty, and affection. In a relationship, making a strong friendship bond is important. More importantly, being affectionate towards your best friend or significant other is also important in making the right decisions and getting to know your friend better, while deepening the bond. Many symbols can express affection.
Protection
Many people consider their best their lucky amulet, for good grades, success at work, and relationship advice. With that in mind, it doesn’t surprise us when someone inks a best friend tattoo that matches some sort of lucky amulet. It’s growing in popularity, and it’s a gender-neutral ritual.
If you have a reliable friend that always bails you out of trouble and protects you from your fear, this tattoo idea is worth realizing.
Best Friend Tattoo: What’s Most Popular
Matching tattoos are the most commonly inked tattoo ideas, especially among women, but they are also popular among men, although with different symbols. One of the best things about best friend tattoo design is that it’s up to you how you’ll make it. Customize your tattoo design with the ideas below.
- Name of your friend – If someone holds a special place in your heart, inking their name along with another symbol can do wonders in making your tattoo look both minimalistic, yet deep and meaningful.
- Quote or lyrics – Friendships are often described through powerful and valuable texts. Some song lyrics can resonate with many friendships. If you and your best friend share a favorite song, maybe you can ink it on your body.
- Favorite cartoon characters – If you know your best friend from childhood, you can get your favorite cartoon tattoo to reminisce about the old good days.
- Tattoo for more friends – Sometimes, having one BFF is not enough, which is why there are tattoos that are suitable for 3 and more people. If you have been friends with a group of people and you’re inseparable, then getting a simple matching tattoo for all of you is the best choice.
- Tattoo for siblings – Siblings can also be best friends, crown your love and friendship with a lovely tattoo.
- Halves – A growing trend among tattoos is to ink half of some symbol, while your best friend inks the other half. It’s popular among people who think they’re soulmates.
40+ Best Friend Tattoo Design Ideas
If you’re out of tattoo designs to match with your best friend, check out our top-picked options from Instagram.
Small Best Friend Tattoo
Small tattoos hold great moments and memory between two best friends. No matter how old you are and how much you like or dislike tattoos, there’s no mistake with getting a small tattoo to mark the years of friendship between you and your favorite person.
Small tattoos are usually for minimalistic and petite symbols that you don’t want to be noticed too much, especially if you work in a conservative environment that doesn’t fancy body ink. It’s also good for people who want to get a small mark of amazing friendship without being too loud about it.
Best Friend Tattoo For Females
Best friend tattoos are more common around females, so you’ll find a lot of matching tattoos for girls who love each other and cherish their friendship. Still, we dedicated this area to the three most favorite matching tattoos for best friend girls. More feminine tattoos can include sweeter and girlier symbols such as hearts, flowers, butterflies, and everything that is commonly liked by females.
We hope that the tattoos above inspired you to get something similar, and we’re sure that they’ll look great.
Best Friend Tattoos For 3
As mentioned earlier, best friend tattoos may not always work just for two best friends. If you’re a best friend gang of three or more people, one of the best ways to celebrate your friendship is with a matching tattoo that will be in the same location for everybody.
As long as all of you like tattoos and have an agreement about general things like the location, size, and shape, we’re sure that you’ll find a symbol that will describe your friendship without a mistake.
Best Friend Tattoos For Males
Who said that best friend tattoos are just for girls? Men can make something like a blood pact, but without the blood, to honor their friendship and years of knowing and helping one another. The symbols used by men could be generally different compared to the symbols that are used by women, which is why we focused on symbolism that is more likely to be tattooed by a man.
Besides names, years, quotes, or some simple catchphrases, men who want to honor their best friend tattoo usually honor their favorite cartoon or movie characters, as well as some popular symbols from video games and similar content.
Best Friend Tattoo For Male And Female
Whether male-female friendships exist or not, we’ll leave up to another debate. For now, we wanted to dedicate this section to people who believe that those friendships do exist and are just as strong as any other friendship.
These symbols should highlight love, loyalty, protection, and dedication for your best friend. That being said, if you have a friend in mind to share a tattoo with, make sure to let them know and head out to make an appointment with your tattoo artist. We’re sure you’re not going to regret it and will enjoy the new tattoo and with that a bond that you two share.
Best Friend Tattoo Matching
Best friend tattoos are generally always matching, but some people want to keep it more unique and match only certain aspects of some tattoos. However, some people prefer having the same tattoos to feel like they resonate with their friends better and that essentially, they are the same.
There’s nothing wrong with that. However, there are so many designs to choose from that oftentimes it feels impossible. That’s why we hope that the designs we shared will feel more comfortable for you and help you make your final decision before speaking to your tattoo artist.
Best Friend Tattoo For Siblings
The love between siblings is immeasurable and stronger than any friendship there is. That’s why some siblings want to get a tattoo that will match that love but also emphasize the friendship that the siblings built over the years of their lives.
That being said, tattoos for siblings can be anything, from the name, quote, or a year or a symbol that both made them happy and laugh. When getting a tattoo for siblings, it may be better for them to match to show the close similarities that siblings share. Still, a good best friend or sibling tattoo can have unique elements on each side and a few similar elements that mark their similarities, like in the pictures above.
Best Friend Tattoo Sponge Bob
Sponge Bob and Patrick the Star are an example of perfect friendship presented in the pop culture. Moreover, many people find it to be the ideal inspiration for a tattoo for best friends.
Patrick and Sponge Bob go on various adventures together, sometimes they are simple and revolve around their day-to-day life, while sometimes they are more complex and involve hunting the Jellyfish and even fighting the villains.
Although they do have distinguishable differences between each other, their common love and respect allow them to overcome those differences and beat all the challenges they are put against. If you wish your friend was like that of Sponge Bob and Patrick, talk to your best friend about inking them on your body.
Best Friend Tattoo For Legs
Best friend tattoos can easily go on legs, for those who don’t want to expose the tattoo too much and leave it just for the summer months. The signs may vary and can come down to your preferences, but these are the designs we chose as some of the best-looking ones. They’re ideal for fans of Pokemon, male-female friendships, and even siblings.
Infinity Best Friend Tattoos
The infinity symbol is the best visualization of friendship that is strong and likely to last forever. It’s not limited to the number of people who feel like they resonate with one another and want to share love and the friendship bond forever.
That being said, you’ll find the infinity sign for both two and more people. Also, if you’re not comfortable with seating the tattoo in the same area as your best friend, you can always choose some other location like in the second picture.
Date Tattoo
The date is also a good idea for a best friend tattoo. If you want it to feel less dull and minimalistic you can combine it with some extra symbols for a better effect. To make it more classic you can use Roman numbers like in the picture above.
Best Friend Tattoo Quotes
Although the picture is worth a thousand words, some tattoo symbols can best be described only with a meaningful and deep quote that can look deep into the eyes and character of the person we love, respect, and value.
Quotes can give an insight about what you truly think about your best friend and your friendship, but also help have a better understanding of them as a person. If you’re going with this approach, make sure to look into the lyrics of your favorite songs and quotes of your favorite poems and novels to find the wording that will perfectly match your friendship.
Best Friend Tattoo For Arms
When best friends want their tattoos to be easily seen, they go for locations that are easy to spot and easy to brag about when going out together. With that in mind, most of the favorable tattoo locations for best friends are on the arms.
As you’re closer to the hand and wrist, you may choose to go for a smaller symbol or a date. If you’re moving your tattoo to be closer to your upper arm and biceps, you will see that it’s a more suitable spot for larger tattoos.
However, be vary as such spots are less visible in the winter due to clothing, but you can easily flaunt it with your best friend once the summer months come.
Best Friend Tattoo Halves
Soulmates exist in friendship too, and not just among romantic interests. A soulmate is considered someone who is your second half, and your best friend can easily be the second half you’ve been looking for the entire life.
With that in mind, some tattoos are split in half. The first half is tattooed on one person’s spot, while their best friend gets the second half. To be matched and unified in one piece, these tattoos are usually sitting at the end of fingers or hands so that they can be merged. However, you can also find them on the arms too.
Frequently Asked Questions About Best Friend Tattoos
Best friends may have a lot of questions to ask their tattoo artist before they get their matching tattoos. We thought of answering some of the questions to make the experience easier.
Q: Are Matching Best Friend Tattoos Expensive?
A: Yes and no. Usually, that depends on the location, shading, shape, size, and how long it’ll take to complete as tattoo artists work per hour. However, the good news is that matching friendship tattoos are usually smaller and don’t take so much space. They can cost anywhere from $50 to $300 per tattoo, depending on the options you choose.
Q: What is the Best Symbol for a Friendship Tattoo?
A: In our opinion, any symbol such as heart, infinity symbol, and similarity can manifest the love two companions hold for one another. However, other symbols that feel more personal and specific may be easier for you to resonate with when choosing the tattoo for you and your best friend.
Talk to your friend and list a few options that you both feel comfortable with, then visit your tattoo artist and see what can be done about it.
Q: Is Getting a Tattoo With Your Best Friend Considered a Bit of Bad Luck?
A: Some superstitious people believe that it’s bad luck to get a matching tattoo with your best friend. There’s little to do with bad luck but more to do with how certain you are that you want to get a tattoo with your friend, and whether you’re sure that they will be your friend forever.
If you get in a fight or end your friendship for whatever reason looking at your tattoo may become painful and hurtful, similar to how a couple of tattoos work.
Also Read:
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