Clown Tattoos
From the melancholic hues of a crying clown to the menacing smirk of a jester, clown tattoos encapsulate a spectrum of human experiences.
They can signify anything from the wearer’s internal struggles and triumphs to a bold statement about their life’s journey.
Each design, whether steeped in cultural heritage or personal significance, tells a unique story, making clown tattoos a compelling choice for those seeking to express their identity, resilience, or even their playful side through body art.
What all clown tattoos have in common, though, is that they deeply exaggerate emotions, whether they be happy or sad.
Therefore, clown tattoos aren’t always scary— they are what you make of them.
What Does a Clown Tattoo Mean?
In general, clown tattoos can symbolize a range of emotions and concepts, from expressing deep and complex feelings like sadness or aggression to embodying cultural or personal themes like resilience, playfulness, or confronting fears.
They often reflect the wearer’s personality, experiences, or cultural background, highlighting aspects such as a tough exterior, awareness of life’s risks, or a desire to embrace both the lighter and darker sides of life.
The specific meaning can vary greatly depending on the style and design of the clown depicted in the tattoo.
Here are some common interpretations:
- Symbol of Humor and Joy: Clowns are traditionally associated with humor, fun, and laughter. A clown tattoo might represent a love for comedy or a reminder to not take life too seriously.
- Sad Clown – Melancholy and Complexity: The image of a sad clown, like Pagliacci, can symbolize the complexity of human emotions, where someone might be hiding sadness behind a cheerful exterior. It can represent the dichotomy of laughter and sorrow.
- Circus and Nostalgia: For some, clowns are reminiscent of the circus and can evoke nostalgia for childhood or a simpler time. The tattoo might be a tribute to these memories.
- Jester or Trickster Figure: In history and literature, jesters or clowns often played the role of the wise fool, speaking truths that others couldn’t. This type of tattoo might symbolize a rebellious or unconventional approach to life.
- Creepy or Horror-Themed: With the influence of horror films and media, clowns can also be seen as creepy or scary figures. In this context, a clown tattoo might represent a darker or edgier aspect of one’s personality or a fascination with horror and macabre.
- Personal Meaning: As with any tattoo, the most important meaning is the one it holds for the person who has it. The clown might represent a personal joke, a significant event, or a reminder of a particular time in their life.
Main Themes in Clown Tattoos
The following themes of clown tattoos follow a full range of emotions.
Clown tattoos are for those who have a flair for the flamboyant when it comes to expressing yourself.
Whether it be proving your ruggedness or telling the world you are proud of being the ‘class clown,’ clown tattoos are bold and don’t hold back.
Let’s take a look at some clown tattoo themes that are common in many clown tattoos and offer a glimpse at the possibilities for anyone seeking this kind of tattoo out.
Sad/Crying Clown Tattoos
Maybe you’re asking, why exactly would someone want to get a sad clown tattoo?
There are many possibilities!
Sad clown tattoos typically show a few colorful tears coming down the clown’s cheek, with the clown itself adorned in its typical garish fashion.
If you have one of these tattoos, you may be sharing with others your true feelings.
Perhaps you are known to be a joyful and humorous person, but inside you have deep emotions.
If you are thinking of receiving a sad clown tattoo, you may also want to consider contemporary feelings on society towards expressing sadness or depression, especially for men.
The very fact you are attempting to show the world that you are at times vulnerable is an honorable endeavor.
It creates an added meaning— you are not afraid to admit that you at times feel blue.
But don’t take this the wrong way, sometimes these tattoos can mean the complete opposite.
They can indicate aggression, rather than sadness, or even say that the clown may be crying but no one will ever catch you with your guard down (which, in a way, is kind of sad).
Payasa Clown Tattoos
Chicano clown tattoos are Mexican clown tattoos that are often accompanied by text or symbols relating to life as a gangster.
In fact, clowns are common imagery in Chicano tattoos.
Also called Payasa, meaning clown in Spanish, these tattoos are all about having a tough outer exterior.
This represents not only a feeling for some but rather a lifestyle.
This tattoo culturally comes from people who grew up in rough Mexican neighborhoods.
Therefore, the Payasa can refer to playing games with your life, not by choice, but rather as a way of life that some people are forced into.
Again, there is often additional imagery that goes with the Payasa, such as a lettering tattoo or word written in graffiti-style typography.
Chicano clown tattoos can have phrases like, “No More Tears,” or “Hard Life,” usually all referring to tightening up one’s bootstraps and heading into the day, not knowing what life it will bring.
Another common image in these tattoos is the dice tattoo.
This means that you are gambling with your life each day.
This tattoo is for you if you must put on a metaphorical clown face to deal with the struggle which is life in a dangerous neighborhood.
Skull Clown Tattoos
A skull clown tattoo is typically a mean-looking skull laughing maniacally and wearing a jester hat.
This tattoo is a classic prison tattoo, meaning that someone is constantly at risk for their lives each day.
If you do not relate to this specific situation but want to express your relationship with life’s risks and eventual end, this tattoo can symbolize that you think ‘life’s a joke.’
Or, it can mean that you have been taunted by near tragedies in the past and always overcame them (and, always will).
There are many other reasons why someone would get a skull clown tattoo:
- Awareness of life after the end
- Being happy even when the going gets rough
- An interest in dark aesthetics
This is one design that is on the darker side of clown tattoos.
The clown aspect of this type of skull tattoo can either add sunshine to the darkness or make it just a little scarier.
But hey, it’s all in what you make of it.
Happy Clown Tattoos
Clowns may just be at their best when they are meant to be happy.
Joyful clown tattoos aren’t meant to be creepy.
Just the opposite, they are meant for people who want their clown tattoo to focus on the bright side, as they represent wonderful cheer and merriment.
Sometimes, the happy clown is paired with a sad clown, exploring a duality that pronounces the two sides to someone that can each come out at any moment.
However, when alone, a happy clown tattoo represents playfulness and the ability to always have fun.
Someone getting this tattoo may also be a prankster or someone who always knows how to make people laugh on any occasion.
If any of this sounds like you, then you may want to consider staying on the light side of life and joining the many who proudly wear happy clown tattoos.
This would not only show your personality but be an interesting conversation piece.
Jester Clown Tattoos
Jesters, as we described, were meant for entertaining royalty in medieval times.
These kinds of clowns can be mean or they can be nice, depending on your angle.
The design of a jester clown tattoo can completely change its meaning.
Do you want to be naughty or nice?
When a jester is naughty, it is a trickster.
This type of tattoo can represent the more sinister side of life.
You could be receiving this type of tattoo to represent your dark side, or in another case, that you have witnessed things in your past that you wish to overcome.
On the other hand, jesters can be nice.
Perhaps you are someone who likes to joke around and want to get a tattoo to symbolize your playfulness.
Whatever reason you want to get a jester clown tattoo, you are certainly paying tribute to the origins of the clown itself.
Krusty the Clown Tattoos
Krusty the Clown tattoo, based on the Simpson’s character, is a mean tattoo.
You may have to be a Simpson’s fan to have this but it certainly shouldn’t stop you from receiving this fun clown tattoo.
This fictional character is said to be still alive and well and is known for his cynical, rowdy, and street-wise attitude.
He embodies an excess of life’s darker pleasures.
The meaning of this tattoo is complicated, to say the least.
In a way, Krusty the Clown is the opposite of what anyone would want to be.
He is an ironic character that represents a life of depression and harsh life choices, while at the same time perhaps being the greatest Simpson’s character ever because he’s real.
This tattoo shows that you have endurance and never give up, even when the worst happens in life.
Evil Clown Tattoos
Evil clown tattoos can symbolize a number of things.
It can be an homage to your favorite villain or a way of facing your fear of clowns.
An evil clown tattoo can symbolize restlessness and desire to create chaos in the world around you.
It may also be a reminder that things are not often as they seem- that most people are wearing a mask in one way or another.
If you’re looking to get some evil clown ink, you may need a lot of skin real estate.
These designs tend to be large because of how detailed they are.
Clown tattoos can be done in any style, but many people opt for something ultra-realistic in portrait style for maximum chills.
Generally, these tattoos are color in order to properly portray the clown’s makeup, but it could also be a fun black and grey design.
Pennywise Tattoos
As we all know from Stephen King’s famous “IT,” Pennywise is an iconic clown that exists in many of our nightmares.
This clown tattoo is meant to be frightening and has the potential to scare people away from you.
Not only that, but this tattoo shows that anyone wearing it is a tough kind of person who isn’t afraid of anything.
What’s most important about this tattoo is that there’s nothing to fear but fear itself.
If this tattoo design doesn’t bother you or bring you to fear then you may view its aesthetic differently than someone else.
Along the same lines, someone else may think your tattoo is creepy while you love it.
Life is all about contradictions, the point is this tattoo shows that you are not afraid of anything and therefore are a very special person.
Joker Tattoos
Another iconic image, the Joker reigns true as a character that is meant to be feared.
The joker tattoos and very popular because the Joker is no ordinary clown.
His dramatic mouth and piercing stare are known anywhere to strike fear into someone’s heart, especially if you are familiar with his background story.
The meaning of the Joker tattoo is that you have a dark side that you aren’t afraid to show to the world.
Everyone has a dark side.
Some have one that’s more noticeable than others.
The Joker tattoo makes that side of yourself visible and allows you to embrace it rather than let it hide in the shadows.
A Joker tattoo is a clown tattoo that is about a clown that is seen as a bad person but really is just a person who has been hurt too many times.
This is a great tattoo for someone who has a lot of trauma or who has been through a lot in life.
Conclusion
As you can see, there are so many reasons to get a clown tattoo, and not always what you would think.
There are a lot of interpretations of clowns because they can represent a range of emotions and ideas.
That’s what makes them performers, from history until the present day.
They represent happy entertainment, the saddest of sad, a hard gangster, or a menacing darkness.
Whatever your reasoning for getting a clown tattoo, choose carefully which design elements you include and what style you pick because that can make all the difference.
Related posts: