50 Beautiful Butterfly Tattoo Ideas

The butterfly is an elegant and often colourful creature with vivid patterns and bright displays of flamboyance. Butterflies are a popular choice for young girls and older women alike as they represent freedom and majestic beauty. A butterfly is light and delicate, they flutter up and down as they effortlessly fly through the air. Us humans have always been fascinated with flight and the ultimate freedom that come with that feeling.

1. Floral butterfly tattoo by mhxbones

2. Pretty little black ink butterfly by Skylarr Nova Tattoos

3. Two tiny shoulder blade butterflies by Cally-Jo

4. Cover-up butterfly shoulder tattoo by Lele Martínez

Choosing the right style and size of butterfly

There are many types of butterfly to choose from, small and large, some are dark and some have a rainbow spectrum of color. You also have the option to choose to have just the wings tattooed, instead of the whole animal. The viewpoint is also something to carefully consider, a common design shows an above view, classically showing the full open wings of the butterfly. Some people like to have a side view and 3D butterflies are popular, making it look like the butterfly has just landed.

5. 3D butterfly by Danny Beston

6. Detailed butterfly by theparsetattoo

7. Cute blue butterfly neck tattoo by Taynan Sander

Patterns and designs to accompany a butterfly tattoo

Many women choose to have additional features with their butterflies, having one of the wings as flowers is a common request and looks pretty. Many girls choose to have flowers surrounding the butterfly or have more than one butterfly. A group of butterflies is officially known as a kaleidoscope.

8. Floral butterfly tattoo done at Djinx Tattoo Studio.

9. Butterfly lady by Lauren Evans

10. Sternum butterfly by David Bel

11. Neck Butterfly by Haus Of Tattoo

Choosing the situation of your butterfly tattoo

The location of your butterfly tattoo is a very important consideration. We have a multitude of body locations in this article, from the neck to the feet, nearly every part of the body has been covered. The arms, back and sternum are all beautiful places to site your new butterfly tattoo, my personal favourite places are the hands and fingers.

12. Two pretty wrist butterflies by song.e

13. Thigh Butterflies by Arūnas Maraška

14. Three small butterflies on upper arm by Stefano Sanna

15. Minimalist Finger Butterfly by Yasmin Goodman

16. 3D Collar Bone Butterfly by GeriTattoo

17. Abstract butterfly calf piece by Aiste G

18. Large floral neck butterfly by Aguascali Firme

19. Pretty ankle butterfly by José Evaristo Lopes

20. Blue shoulder butterfly by Jemma Louise Austin-Smith

21. Dark Pink Butterfly by prianatatts

22. Abstract sketch butterflies back tattoo by Zitten

23. Watercolor butterflies by Eliška

24. Memorial monarch butterfly by Gillian Marie

25. Butterflies hand tattoo by Brenna Eagan

26. Butterfly metamorphosis back tattoo by Flor de la Cruz Tattoo

Butterflies are a symbol for change

The life cycle of a butterfly is quite complex, they undergo a complete metamorphosis to grow up into an adult. They must endure four stages including the egg, larva, pupa and finally the adult butterfly. Thus a butterfly is the perfect symbolic representation of change and new beginnings.

27. Butterfly stages by milky