There is no doubt that David Beckham has been the leading face when it comes to new styles and trends compared to other football players. If there is anything the Manchester United player is known for apart from obviously football and his haircuts, it has to be his tattoos.
In a generation where there is a craze for getting inked, Beckham’s body art has become a hot topic of discussion.
Apart from the stunning free kicks which the midfielder is known for, Beckham’s tattoos have been another factor which has helped him garner a lot of attention. Throughout his career as a football player, Beckham has used his looks and tattoos to make a living in the fashion industry and continues to do so even after his retirement.
Also read: David Beckham’s hairstyles
From advertisements to endorsements, the 40-year-old today owns clothing and fragrance lines as part of his own brand. Beckham has now established his place as one of the prime icons in the fashion world today, as he still manages to pull off every look he decides to carry even after being a father of four.
Also read: Lionel Messi's tattoos: What do they signify?
With tattoos covering most of his well-built physique, each tattoo has its own unique meaning. Beckham previously about his body art saying, “They’re about the important people in my life, who I want to have with me always. Mine are all about the people in my life, my wife and sons, who I want with me always.”
'When you see me, you see the tattoos. You see an expression of how I feel about Victoria and the boys. They're part of me.”
From a cheerful youngster to a matured adult, Beckham has no desire of putting an end to his permanent and expensive hobby of visiting the tattoo parlour. With 50 tattoos on his body, Beckham reveals that he has no regrets about any of his inkings, saying: “I don't regret any of them. They all have a meaning. I think that's what's important about tattoos, if they have a meaning you'll never regret them.”
Here’s a look at David Beckham’s tattoos and their meanings:
1) Pretty Lady
The tattoo is a tribute to his youngest child, his four-year-old girl Harper. He got the words ‘pretty lady’ engraved above his daughter's name, on the occasion of her fourth birthday.
2) Harper
Like his other children, Beckham also wanted to pay tribute to his youngest child, Harper. Therefore he decided to get his daughters named inked on his neck.
3) Jesus and Cherubs
The Manchester United legend got this tattoo done in 2010. Inked on his upper left chest, it displays a portrait of Jesus Christ which represents Beckham and three angels lifting Jesus out of the tomb.
David says “It’s Jesus being carried by three cherubs and obviously the cherubs are my boys and so my thought of it is that at some point my boys are going to need to look after me and that’s what they’re doing in the picture. It means a lot.”
4) Lady in the forest
The meaning behind the tattoo on the right side of Beckham’s chest still remains a mystery.
5) Angel and ‘In The face of Adversity’
Made in 2005, Beckham got it done after his personal assistant Rebecca Loss claimed she had an affair with him. The Real Madrid star used it to describe his feelings of distress during that period. He said everyone has a way of expressing their thoughts and his way is through tattoos.
6) Two cherubs
The tattoo of two cherubs is placed on his upper right arm. The cherubs are said to represent his first two sons Romeo and Brooklyn.
7) Biblical text
David shares a lot of affinity for textual tattoos and decided to get one on top his Man of Sorrows tattoo. The tattoo features a large block of writing that appears to be a biblical quote which is inked on the right side of his ribcage.
8) Man of sorrows
The tattoo is a tribute to his grandfather Joe West who passed away in 2009 at the age of 83. The image is a portrait of Jesus Christ on the way to the cross. The inspiration for the tattoo is drawn from a painting called The Man Of Sorrows by Catholic artist Matthew R. Brooks.
9) Clouds
Beckham has a tattoo of clouds placed below the angel of the right upper arm. The clouds signify that Beckham dreamed of a bigger future.
10) Angel and ‘let them hate as long as they fear’
Beckham soon decided to fill his whole right arm with ink and went on to get another angel tattoo. The quotation was inspired by Emperor Tiberius of the Roman Empire. To mark his family’s move to States after signing for LA Galaxy, David treated himself with a Templar Knight tattoo. The design includes the Latin motto "Let them hate as long as they fear."
11) Pray for me
When Beckham made his move from the Santiago Bernabeu to the MLS in 2007 to play for LA Galaxy, Beckham got the ‘Pray for me’ tattoo inked on his right wrists along with clouds. The tattoo signifies the challenges he came across at that time.
12) Victoria and hummingbird
Beckham shows the love for his wife with another tattoo of her name placed on the back of his palm with a hummingbird.
13) Number 99 tattoo
David got the number '99' tattooed on his pinkie finger to mark the year he tied the knot with wife Victoria. It was also another important year in his footballing career, as he achieved a treble with Manchester United. Flaunting it on Instagram, the retired footballer wrote, '99 was a good year for me.'
14) Dream big, be unrealistic
The tattoo is inspired by a phrase used by American rapper Jay-Z during a concert. Beckham found the phrase so meaningful, that he decided to ink it on his body.
15) Stars
David Beckham body also features the ink comprising of a couple of stars which is placed near the portrait tattoo of his wife Victoria.
16) Ut Avem Ut Foveam
The tattoo is of Latin phrase which says 'So that I love and cherish'. It is just seated below Victoria’s tattoo in Devanagari script.
17) Victoria
David wanted to show the love for his wife Victoria and decided a tattoo of her name on the inner side of his left forearm. Choosing to make it even more innovative, he opted for Devanagari script or the Hindu script. The tattoo eventually ended up spelling 'Vihctoria' and received a lot of flak.
18) I am beloved and my beloved is mine
On the occasion of their 6th anniversary, Beckham decided to pay tribute to his wife with this quote. The text is borrowed from the Book of Solomon and is also found inked on Victoria’s body.
19) Cupid and Psyche
The tattoo is based on a 15th century Renaissance painting by artist Francisco Francia. The tattoo displays the Love God Cupid carrying his wife Psyche to heaven. The only change Beckham made in the tattoo was the addition of a scarf on Psyche’s nude body.
20) 1975
While most of Beckham’s tattoos are about his family, The Real Madrid star wanted one about himself. A tiny tattoo on his left ribcage refers to the year he arrived in the world – 2nd May 1975.
21) Chinese proverb
David wanted another expressive script inked on his body and therefore went ahead with a Chinese motif which he got done in 2008 in Hong Kong. The text reads 'Death and life have determined appointments. Riches and hour depend upon heaven' running down vertically on his left side. This design came in 2008.
22) Mum and dad
The latest of David Beckham’s new tattoos, it features ‘Mum & Dad’ which is located on the footballer's left side, just below his new 1975 tattoo. The tattoo is so close to the Chinese text tattoo that they almost collide. During an interview on The Jonathan Ross Show in 2013, David revealed that his sons have already made plans to get their own “Mum & Dad” tattoos when they are older.
And daddy Beckham thought by getting a “Mum & Dad” tattoo of his own, he and his kids would eventually end up with similar tattoos.
23) Roses
The tattoo of roses is yet another tattoo which exhibits the respect to his wife. The tattoo features a ring of roses inked around Beckham’s left arm near the elbow. The ten roses in the ink were used to mark the couple's 10th anniversary.
24) Victoria
The tattoo which sits vertically on the left side of his arm is the image of his wife Victoria Beckham from a Bridget Bardot inspired shoot she did for a Pop magazine in 2007, which is said to be one of Beckham’s favourites. Though it appears tiny, the artwork is as long as six inches.
25) Latin phrase
Latin phrase meaning Spiritual imperfection. The Manchester United legend went for another Latin phrase tattoo, this time on his right arm. The tattoo reads "Perfectio In Spiritu", which means Spiritual Perfection.
26) VII
David took a break from tattoos from several years before getting the number 7 tattooed on to his inner right forearm, written in Roman numerals. The number is special to him as it's his shirt number he donned for Manchester United and England. It is also the middle name of his daughter Harper.
27) Cross
Beckham has the tattoo on the inner side of his right arm which fails to get noticed most of the time. The Cross is a representation of the Knights Templar.
28) Roman number
In 2006 David and Victoria got matching wrist tattoos of the Roman numerals VIII.V.MMVI, which stand for the date of their secret commitment ceremony on May 8, 2006.
29) Swallow
The swallow is a popular tattoo made by the sailors who used the tats to represent how far they had travelled. In Beckham’s case, the swallow tattoo represents the love and devotion he has towards his family.
30) 723
The tattoo is a combination of his two favourite shirt numbers – 7 & 23.
31) Lead with love
The ‘Lead with Love’ tattoo is in a curly script font carved on the back of David’s left hand.
32) Love
The tattoo was done by Beckham in the year 2011. Inked on his left hand, the tattoo includes the word ‘Love’ written in script with an image of swallow next to it.
33) Cross and wings
Another religious tattoo came in 2004, when he added a winged cross to the back of his neck. Beckham celebrated his move to Real Madrid by flying back to Manchester to get the tattoo done. This sacred tattoo features a Gothic-style sketch of the cross which is surrounded by two delicately drawn angels with wings.
34) Romeo
When Beckham gave birth to his second child Romeo, David included the tattoo of his name above the guardian angel on his back. Like Brooklyn’s tattoo, Romeo’s name also features in Gothic script.
35) Guardian angel
Beckham’s upper back tattoo of a guardian angel was made a year later after he got Brooklyn’s name tattoo done. The fine idea behind the design is that the angel is watching over Brooklyn’s name below. The tattoo received a lot of popularity and signified the love Beckham had for his son.
36) Cruz
Giving birth to another son, his third baby meant that Beckham had to once again visit the tattoo parlour. Beckham had Cruz’s tattoo done in the year 2005 and it featured his name in gothic script as well.
37) Book of proverbs quote
The tattoo is situated just below the cherubs on his right bicep and the text is quoted from the Book of Proverbs in the Bible. Beckham got the tattoo done to fill the ink on his right arm with a line of Hebrew text that reads: “My son, do not forget my teaching but keep my commands in your heart.”
38) 23
The tattoo is of the jersey number 23 Beckham wore at Real Madrid and LA Galaxy.
39) Brooklyn
Beckham first went under the painful needles for his lower back tattoo. The tattoo which is in Gothic script dates back to the year 1999 to mark the birth of his first child Brooklyn.
40) Forever by your side
David was never satisfied with the tattoos he got for his wife and so he decided to add another one to the collection. The new tattoo was placed beneath his wife’s photo shoot art that read “Forever by your side” accompanied by a star.
41) Buster
In August 2015, Beckham got the name Buster with a small heart inked on the right side of his neck. Buster is Brooklyn’s nickname as Beckham uses it fondly.
42) Horse tattoo
The Horse tattoo was one of Beckham’s boldest tattoos. The tattoo which is the head of a mighty horse was unveiled by his partner Victoria Beckham on Instagram.
43) My love
Beckham got a new script tattoo this month inked on his knuckles reading My Love. It was first seen during a basketball game in LA.
44) Little girl
One of Beckham’s popular tattoos, the tattoo on his palm honour his daughter’s creative skills. The tattoo is a picture of a stick figure of a little girl wearing a triangle-shaped frock and extending her arms out. Besides the girl, there is a tiny sketch of a heart next to it.
45) We love you daddy
David got another tattoo as a tribute for his son’s on the left side of his rib. Placed just above his 1975 tattoo, it was written by his boys which says, “We love you daddy”.
46) Eagle tattoo
David Beckham revealed his new tattoo on Instagram last year which was an eagle, located below his left armpit. The Eagle is his favourite animal and the tattoo personally signifies the challenges that come across him.
47) Indian chief head tattoo
Beckham’s tattoo of an Indian chief head is placed just above the artwork of his Chinese symbols. Though Beckham hasn’t revealed anything about the tattoo, it is similar to the one popstar Justin Bieber got on his back.
48) Ship tattoo
Beckham also has a tattoo of a ship which is placed on the right side of his ribs just above the lengthy Biblical text. Beckham further revealed that his father too shares a similar tattoo.
49) Rose tattoo
Beckham felt that the ‘Pretty Lady’ tattoo did not do any justice to show the affection towards his daughter and got a rose tattoo done just above Harper’s name.
50) Classic angel tattoo
David Beckham’s got his first lower body tattoo featuring two classic angels from partway up his calf running to the ankle. The tattoo is placed on his left leg and shows a couple running which signifies him and his wife.
51) Number 7 and Rose finger tattoo
Beckham revealed two new tattoos on his left fingers earlier during the year when he made a surprise visit to New York for his wife's fashion week show. A tattoo featuring the number 7 was inked on the pinkie finger. While the rose finger tattoo is inked just above his wedding ring finger looks like a tribute to wife Victoria.
