According to Page Six, Harry Styles has over 50 tattoos. And after several hours of fierce gossip blog and Instagram research, we can confirm a number as low as 67—with at least four tattoo cover ups. #journalism.
Styles’ tattoos are often disparate—individual pieces representing family members, music references, and personal experiences, as well as just aesthetic interests and terrible on-camera choices.
In an interview with James Corden during his One Direction days, Styles said he even gave himself at least one tattoo. “I’ve got a couple stupid ones. I don’t know if I regret them so much,” he admitted. How stupid? “I mean, I wrote ‘big’ on my big toe,” Styles said, laughing.
That 2015 interview also proved the site of another possibly stupid tattoo, when Corden challenged the band to a “tattoo roulette.” Styles lost. His punishment: tattooing, in front of the audience, “Late Late” somewhere on his body in reference to Corden’s show. (No one was happier by this result than Niall Horan, 1D tattoo holdout.) Styles chose his left arm.
The musician got his first tattoo on his eighteenth birthday in 2012, choosing to ink the outline of a star on his left bicep. The star was later filled in. Since then, Styles has averaged around seven new tattoos a year. We now commence to identify them all. Join us on this important journey.
(We probably missed one or ten. Please don’t hunt us down, 1D stans.)
Harry Styles' chest tattoos
Let’s start with the big, obvious ones on Styles' chest. On his sternum, Styles has a large butterfly, which he got in 2013. The butterfly reportedly symbolizes an early transformation for Styles, though the exact meaning hasn’t been discussed.
Two swallows face one another on Styles' pecs. “I like that kind of style of tattoos, like the old sailor kind of tattoos,” Styles told Us Weekly. The swallows are sometimes tattooed one at a time for the departure and return of a voyage. “They symbolize traveling, and we [One Direction] travel a lot!”
Just above the left swallow are the words “17 BLACK,” which tattoo artist Kevin Paul told GQ UK signified a losing gambling hand for Styles. Just below the same swallow is a faded broken heart and two crosses, one over the letter “M” and one over the letter “K”—the former reportedly representing his maternal Grandmother, Mary Smith, the latter, his paternal Grandfather, Keith Fredrick Styles. Next to the right swallow is a cross over the letter “B,” which could stand for one or both of his grandfathers.
Over each collarbone, Styles wears a date: 1957 on his right and 1967 on his right. The dates are the birth years of both Styles’ parents. And on each shoulder, he wears a cursive “g” and “A,” the “g” standing for his sister Gemma and the A for his mom, Anne.
Under his left armpit is an empty bird cage, two theater masks, and the acronym “SNCL,” which stands of “smile now cry later.”
And finally, on each side of his abdomen, Styles has a fern leaf, reportedly a cover up of previous ink which said “might as well.”
Harry Styles’ left arm tattoos
Maybe the most crowded space on the Harry Styles body canvass is the left arm. Let’s work our way down from the top. On his shoulder are several letter-based tattoos. Styles wears “NY,” “LA,” and “LDN” (London)—references to the three cities Styles spends most of his time. Next to “NY” are the Hebrew letters for Styles’ sister’s name. Beneath the Hebrew is the phrase “Can I Stay.” Meaning unknown. On the backside of the shoulder, Styles has a minimalistic outline of a tiny guitar.
The centerpiece of Styles’ left arm seems to be a pirate ship tattoo, another nautical traveling image like the swallows. Just below the ship is an anatomical heart and his “Late Late” James Corden tattoo. Just above the ship is a triangle refracting light, the album art for Pink Floyd’s The Dark Side of the Moon. Below the triangle is a tuxedoed skeleton framed in a card, which apparently is just a cool-ass image he got on tour. The skeleton grins above two shaking hands.
On his left bicep beside the pirate ship are several tattoos, including a black heart (no clue), three nails (no clue), a coat hanger (still no clue), a black star, a Green Bay Packers logo (he loves them), the word “hi,” and an English cookie related to his sister’s name Gemma. Farther down the inside of the forearm, Styles has a bottle of liquor surrounded by the text “YOU BOOZE YOU LOSE.” Beneath this holy message is the Holy Bible. There’s also another “A” near the BOOZE, for Styles’ mother.
Below the shaking hands on Styles’ elbow is the phrase “SILVER SPOON” and written across the front side of the elbow is the name “Jackson,” a photographer. Most of Styles’ front forearm is covered with a giant rose.
The backside of Styles’ arm includes the name “Arlo” just under his elbow. Just underneath is a naked mermaid (Styles in an interview: “I am a mermaid”) beside the letter “R” (his late stepfather) and some kind of demented cherub looking thing (beats us).
His left wrist is speckled with several more tattoos: a padlock (done by Ed Sheeran), a shamrock, a key, the Aquarius sign, “99p” (99 pence), the word "Pingu" (a British children's TV show penguin) and a giant anchor (a cover up for the previous tattoo “I can’t change").
On his left hand, just above the thumb, is a tiny cross.
Harry Styles’ right arm tattoos
Unlike many other musicians, Styles seems to have gone for balance with his tattoos, leaving mostly negative space on his right side. He has one large tattoo of an eagle on his right forearm (apparently covering up an old tattoo reading “Things I can”) above which is the name “Mary,” for his grandmother.
Harry Styles’ leg tattoos
On his right thigh, Styles has a tiger’s head. Above and below each knee, are the words “yes” and “no” written in both French and Spanish. The tattoos appear to be recent.
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Styles has “NEVER GONNA DANCE AGAIN” tattooed across his ankles (the first two words on his right, the second two on his left), the lyrics from a George Michael song. He also has an “x” over his right ankle and two screws in his right big toe, an apparent One Direction band tattoo about staying grounded. (He also wrote “big” on one of his big toes, he told Corden.)
Harry Styles’ miscellaneous tattoos
Well, that’s about all we could verify. Styles apparently has “little things” tattooed in cursive somewhere on his body. And finally, allegedly, Styles has “Brasil!” tattooed on his behind. Because, when in Rio de Janiero …
