Angelina Jolie attended the Dumbo premiere in Los Angeles in early March wearing a stunning white chiffon gown, however, it wasn’t the custom Versace number that caught everyone’s attention, with the backless dress showcasing the actress’ extensive tattoo collection. The 43-year-old, who walked the red carpet with four of her children, Zahara 14, Shiloh, 12 and ten-year-old twins Knox and Vivienne, usually opts to cover up her body art, but with total of 17 tattoos it can’t be easy! Here at HELLO! we’ve gathered pictures off her ink work and revealed details of some of the Academy Award winning actress’ tattoos. Read some of the sentimental reasons behind the creative artwork…
Coordinates tattoo
The tattoo with arguably the most significant meaning is the inking on the star’s left arm. The tattoo features the coordinates of locations where her six children were born. Alongside her children’s coordinates are the ones of her former husband Brad Pitt’s birthplace of Oklahoma. However, back in 2000 this tattoo used to be an inking of Billy Bob Thornton’s name, her ex-husband, above a dragon. This tattoo was removed after the couple divorced in 2003.
The body art on the left side of her back is a Buddhist spell dedicated to her adopted son Maddox. The tattoo is for protection, translating as: “May your enemies run far away from you. If you acquire riches, may they remain yours always. Your beauty will be that of Aspara. Wherever you may go, many will attend, serve and protect you, surrounding you on all sides.”
These 3 designs on the middle of Angelina’s back represent four continents and the classical elements of earth, water, air and fire. The tattoos were added to her collection whilst the star was in Cambodia filming First They Killed My Father. The tattoos were inked onto her skin using steel rods that were mounted with a surgical steel needle. One of the tattoos features a Buddhist temple design which is thought to remind the individual to have mercy on oneself, whilst the one on the far right of the shoulder is a design to bring luck and wealth. The largest piece in the middle represents the four elements.
On the lower back of the star, there is a 12-inch long Bengal tiger tattoo that was completed in July 2004, after two hours of patiently waiting, the new piece of body ink was supposedly blessed by a traditional Thai needle. The tattoo represented Angelina’s Cambodian citizenship that was granted in 2005.
Winston Churchill speech tattoo
On the side of her left forearm, Angelina Jolie has a tattoo of the Roman Numeral XIII V MCMXL which translates to the numbers 13/5/1940. The tattoo is the date when Winston Churchill delivered his speech on 13 May 1940 that famously stated: “I have nothing to offer but blood, toil, tears and sweat.”
The actress has a rune style tattoo on her wrist featuring the letter h. It is not clear if the ink is symbolic for her ex-boyfriend Timothy Hutton or her brother Janes Haven.
The Clash tattoo
The tattoo on the mother-of-six’s neck simply states, “Know Your Rights” and is placed on the base of her neck, in between Angelina’s shoulders. The tattoo is a song by Angelina’s favourite band, The Clash.
Angelina Jolie has an Arabic script tattoo that translates as determination on her right arm that covered up her custom abstract lines tattoo created by Billy Bob Thornton and herself during their marriage.
Delicately placed inside Angelina Jolie’s left elbow are the words “A prayer for the wild at heart kept in cages” which is the subtitle of Tennessee Williams’ 1941 play Stairs to the Roof.
The day before Angelina married Johny Lee Miller in 1995, the actress got a cross tattoo on her hip, to hide a little dragon with a blue tongue she had from a trip to Amsterdam. Next to the cross tattoo is the Latin phrase: “Quod me nutrut me destruit” that means “what nourishes me, destroys me.”
