Ed Sheeran’s 62 Tattoos & Their Meanings

Edward Christopher Sheeran, popularly known as Ed Sheeran is an English Singer, Songwriter, Actor, Guitarist, and, Record Producer. Kevin Paul is the artist behind many of Ed’s bold inkings. Ed now has around thirty tattoos on his front, plus countless ones down his arms.

‘People say when they see my tattoos that I look like a melted crayon, so that’ s interesting. I guess this is just my eight year-old self coming out.’

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1. ‘Broken Heart with No Entry Sign’ Tattoo

Tattoo: Broken Heart with no entry sign inked on his lower abdomen.

Meaning: Ed Sheeran got this tattoo inked in the reference to his own song, “Hearts Don’t Break Around Here”.

2. ‘Huge Lion’ Tattoo

Tattoo: Huge Lion inked on Ed Sheeran’s chest.

Meaning: Ed Sheeran revealed this tattoo through an Instagram post which was surprisingly not taken happily by his followers. But during an appearance on The Ellen DeGeneres Show, Ed finally revealed the reason behind why he got inked in the first place.

He said, “I feel like this is every part of my career put into one, and I think it looks cool and I don’t really care if anyone else does too,” he told Ellen.

The one that means the most to me is this lion – and it’s the one I got the most stick for. The reason I got the lion was for Wembley.It was the biggest achievement that I’d done. I get one every time there’s something that I’m proud of or I want to remember.

3. ‘Ladz On Tour’ Tattoo

Tattoo: LADZ on TOUR inked on his left shoulder blade.

Meaning: Ed Sheeran was captured saying that this ink was just an abrupt decision when he was on one of his knock-out tours.

He said “I had Rixton on tour and I said, ‘Let’s get a tattoo – we should get Ladz On Tour because we are lads on tour.’”

4. ‘Koala’ Tattoo

Tattoo: Koala inked on his left forearm.

Meaning: Ed has many inks on his body which symbolize his specific tours to various places. This Koala is also one of them. It is a tribute to one of his stays in Australia.

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5. ‘Goat’ Tattoo

Tattoo: Goat inked on his left forearm.

Meaning: On May 2012 he tweeted: “Just got a tattoo of a goat,” and in response to a follower’s question regarding the meaning of this ink he replied, “sentimental reasons.”

6. ‘Mother and Child’ Tattoo

Tattoo: Mother and a child portrait inked on his right arm.

Meaning: Ed Sheeran has a portrait which represents a mother and a child duo, done by the artist Henri Matisse on his arm as a tribute to his mom.

He was caught saying, “It was the first thing I bought with a paycheck for my mom. I bought her a drawing of mother and child.”

7. ‘Red Heart’ Tattoo

Tattoo: Red Heart inked on his right arm.

8. ‘Family Tree’ Tattoo

Tattoo: Family tree Tattooed on Ed Sheeran’s right bicep.

Meaning: Ed Sheeran is known to be a family man and this ink is the clear symbol of his love for his family. He had revealed this ink in 2013 on Instagram.

9. ‘Teddy Bear’ Tattoo

Tattoo: Teddy Bear inked on his right bicep.

Meaning: The Teddy Bear inked just below his family tree tattoo, is the representation of Ed Sheeran’s childhood nickname “Teddy”.

10. ‘Kiwi Bird’ Tattoo

Tattoo: Kiwi bird inked on the inner side of his left bicep. He got this inked while touring New Zealand.

11. ‘Green Stone’ Tattoo

Tattoo: Green Stone Tattoo inked in tribute to his visit to Queensland by the tattoo artist Mcfarlane.

12. ‘Green Gecko’ Tattoo

Tattoo: Green Gecko inked on his right forearm.

Meaning: Ed Sheeran got this Green Gecko inked in 2014, which is the symbol of wisdom and good fortune.

13 ‘Kool Guy’ Tattoo

Tattoo: Kool Guy is inked on his right bicep under teddy bear tattoo.

Meaning: It was designed by John Mayer. On the appearance on the LATE LATE SHOW, Ed Sheeran and John Mayer were to get the tattoos done on their body as decided and designed by each other, which were to be revealed only after being done. Thus, John Mayer decided KOOL GUY with an arrow facing upwards which was inked on Ed’s body.

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14 ‘Spectacles’ Tattoo

Tattoo: Spectacles inked near Ed Sheeran’s right-hand wrist.

15. ‘English Tea Cuppa’ Tattoo

Tattoo: English Tea Cuppa inked on his left bicep.

Meaning: Ed got this English Tea inked while on a British radio show in 2012 as a tribute to the ENGLISH HERITAGE.

16. ‘Blue Angel Wing’ Tattoo

Tattoo: Blue Angel Wing Tattoo inked on the left forearm.

Meaning: The Angel Wings represent the lyrics of one of his hit songs, The A-Team. Ed Sheeran had decided to get the BLUE angel wing as a tribute to celebrate Ed’s debut single The A-Team which was played on the radio in America, in May 2012.

17. ‘Festina Lente’ Tattoo

Tattoo: Ed Sheeran tattoo includes the word Festina lente inked on Ed Sheeran’s left forearm which means, “make haste slowly”.

18. ‘Paw Print’ Tattoo

Tattoo: Paw Print in black inked on his left forearm.

Meaning: Ed Sheeran has a Paw Print inked on his forearm that he confessed to getting “for no real reason” when he was 18 years.

19. ‘Delicate Green Leaves’ Tattoo

Tattoo: The delicate green leaves tattooed under and surrounding his “Festina Lente” tattoo are the symbol of the circle of life.

20. ‘Snowflake’ Tattoo

Tattoo: Snowflake INKED IN BLUE on his left forearm.

Meaning: Ed Sheeran has a snowflake inked on his arm which symbolizes the time he spent with Snow Patrol in Spring 2012.

21. ‘Jigsaw’ Tattoo

Tattoo: Jigsaw puzzle pieces inked on his left forearm.

Meaning: The colorful jigsaw pieces as tattoos on his arm represent each of his best friends. Each friend who has made a huge impact on his life. He hopes to add more such inks as he meets more and more people who keep influencing him.

22. ‘your name’ Tattoo

Tattoo: The Tattoo “your name” inked on Ed’s left arm is a reference to his 2011 song, ” Wake Me Up” where he sings: “I should ink my skin with your name.”

23. ‘Stereo Buttons’ Tattoo

Tattoo: The stereo buttons tattoo includes the symbols for play-pause-fast-forward-rewind he got in Utah.

24. ‘Music Lyric’ Tattoo

Tattoo: Ed Sheeran has the lyrics inked on his bicep which says, (I CAME TO THIS WORLD WITH NOTHING AND I’LL LEAVE WITH NOTHING BUT LOVE. EVERYTHING ELSE IS JUST BORROWED)

Meaning: The quote on his bicep is lyrics from “Everything Is Borrowed” by The Streets and was done in the handwriting of the tattoo artist Mark Skinner.

25. ‘HEINZ TOMATO KETCHUP’ Tattoo

Tattoo: Ed got the Heinz Tomato Ketchup logo during his stop in Columbus when he was on tour to Ohio in 2012.

Ed tweeted: “No one is too good for ketchup. Ketchup is too good for you.”

In August 2019, Heinz announced the limited-edition “Ed Sheeran X Heinz” bottle, of which only 150 have been made. The money raised went to 2 charities of Sheeran’s choice: Rise Against Hunger and East Anglia’s Children’s Hospices.

26. ‘Lego House’ Tattoo

Tattoo: Yellow Lego House inked on Ed’s left forearm.

Meaning: ED has a tattoo on his left arm which includes the yellow Lego House. This tattoo according to Ed is the tribute to his hit Lego House song. He revealed this ink on a visit to Legoland in California in February 2013.

27. ‘A Maple Leaf’ Tattoo

Tattoo: A Maple leaf inked near his left wrist.

Meaning: In a tribute to his first Gig in Canada and as a homage to his Canadian Fans, Ed Sheeran got this maple leaf inked on his left-hand wrist in June 2012, ahead of his performance at a music award show.

28. ‘Lips for the Rolling Stones’ Tattoo

Tattoo: Ed Sheeran has a tattoo of lips rolling for stones on his left forearm next to his kiwi tattoo.

29. ‘An autograph of Damien Rice’ Tattoo

Tattoo: The autograph of Damien Rice inked on his left forearm.

Meaning: When Ed was 11 years old he got the autograph of his hero singer Damien Rice. This ink is the exact representation of his favorite singer’s autograph on his body. Damien Rice is Ed Sheeran’s musical idol.

30. ‘Puss In Boots’ Tattoo

Tattoo: Puss in Boots inked near his left-hand wrist.

Meaning: Ed Sheeran said, Puss in boots relates to a song called ‘Wake Me Up,’ where I talk about Shrek. “Plus, I like cats.”

31. ‘World’ Tattoo

Tattoo: This globe tattoo Ed Sheeran’s body symbolizes the day when his ” + ” album was released worldwide.

32. Pingu Tattoo

Tattoo: Pingu inked on his left arm.

Meaning: Pingu is the  main character in a British clay-mated TV show. Ed had gone along with his friend, Harry Styles to get this ink. Both of them got a similar tattoo inked. Harry got the name Pingu tattooed on his arm whereas Ed Sheeran had decided to get the ink in form of animated physical character, PINGU.

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33. ‘Phoenix’ Tattoo

Tattoo: Phoenix inked on his right forearm.

Meaning: This is one of Ed Sheeran’s recent tattoos. He is known to have loved the myth of the fiery bird rising from the ashes, thus he had decided to get this ink. Ed once said that whenever he looks at this tattoo, it gives him hope.

34. ‘Stereo Buttons’ Tattoo

Tattoo: Ed Sheeran wears another permanent ink on his left forearm which shows stereo buttons i.e rewind, pause, stop, forward.

35. ‘Hand Print’ Tattoo

Tattoo: Hand Print inked on Ed’s left forearm.

36. ‘A Vincent van Gough Starry Night painting’ Tattoo

Tattoo: On his right arm he wears a permanent ink which shows the Stary Night Artwork.

Meaning: Starry Night artwork is the painting which was gifted by Van Gogh to his dad. It is also Ed’s tribute to the song Vincent by Don McLean, whose album cover depicts the same Starry Night Artwork, which Ed sang in May 2012.

37. ‘The Gingerman from Shrek’ Tattoo

Tattoo: The Gingerman from shriek inked on Ed’s left bicep is his favorite one which represents a link to his favorite star- SHRIEK.

38. ‘RED’ Tattoo

 

Tattoo: Ed has ‘Red’ tattooed on his left shoulder which is in the tribute to his best friend Taylor Swift, following their ‘Red’ album and tour. Ed had also sung a song with her during her tour to America.

39. ‘Prince’ Tattoo

Tattoo: PRINCE inked on his left forearm.

Meaning: This tattoo is the logo from “The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air”. It reads “prince” which is one of Ed’s favorite TV shows that he talks a lot about in interviews. He got the ink while on tour in Philadelphia in Autumn 2012.

“I played in Philadelphia and I was on tour with my friends, the Rizzle Kicks, who were my opening act,” Sheeran said. “And I got ‘Prince,’ Jordan got ‘Fresh’ on his leg, and Harley got on his arm ‘on the playground where I spent most of my days.’ “

40. ‘Mug’ Tattoo

Tattoo: Mug written on his right bicep. The “mug” tattoo is a common tattoo with Anne-Marie

41. ‘Impulse’ Tattoo

Tattoo: Ed Sheeran has a random impulse tattoo on his left elbow.

Meaning: Ed Sheeran has an impulse tattoo on his left bicep which he got along with Jovel, whose performing name is Random Impulse. He is one of Ed’s old close friends and they had decided to get a matching tattoo. Ed is also the godfather of Jovel’s daughter.

42. ‘Bloodstream’ Tattoo

Tattoo: Bloodstream inked under Ed’s Teddy Tattoo.

43. ‘Plus Sign’ Tattoo

Tattoo: Plus sign inked on his left-hand wrist.

44. ‘Three Boxing Gloves’ Tattoo

Tattoo: The Three boxing gloves inked on his right forearm.

Meaning: The three boxing gloves tattoed on Ed Sheeran’s arm represent his first three sold-out shows at Madison Square Garden in NYC. This ink is also a tribute to his grandfather who was a boxer.

45. ‘Sagrada Família Church’ Tattoo

Tattoo: Ed Sheeran got the Sagrada Família church tattooed on the right side of his stomach when he was in Australia.

46. ‘Everything that happens is from now on’ Tattoo

Tattoo: Ed has got the words “Everything that happens is from now on,” inked on his left forearm, in the singer (Bon Iver’s) handwriting.

47. ‘Galway Grill’ Tattoo

Tattoo: Ed Sheeran has a tattoo that says “Galway Grill” on his arm in Saoirse Ronan’s handwriting because they thought it would be a funny thing to include in the video but now he has it forever.

48. ‘C.F. Martin & Co.’  Tattoo

Tattoo: Ed has a tattoo depicting the logo of C.F. Martin & Co. It is a famous American guitar company.

49. ‘Heart and Star’ Tattoo

Tattoo: Heart and star inked on Ed’s left forearm.

50. ‘Japanese Symbol’ Tattoo

Tattoo: Japanese Symbol inked on his left arm.

Meaning: While touring in Japan, Sheeran also got the obligatory kanji symbol.ED told GQ: “This was the first time I played in Japan. I think I know what it means but it might mean Yo Sushi or something.”

51. ‘Grammy Award’ Tattoo

Tattoo: Grammy Award inked on Ed Sheeran’s lower abdomen.

52. ‘Number. 5’ Tattoo

Tattoo: No 5 inked on Ed’s left arm.

Meaning: No 5 tattoo represents Ed Sheeran’s  No 5 Collaborations Project, back in January 2011.

53. ‘Gaelic Quote’ Tattoo

Tattoo: Gaelic Quote inked on his arm.

Meaning: Tattoo reads, “nuair is gá dom fháil bhaile, is tú mo réalt eolais” which is meant to be a translation of Foy Vance’s lyrics from his song ‘Guiding Light’, which means “when I need to get home, you’re my guiding light”. The line is a lyric from Co Down singer-songwriter, Foy Vance, and his track ‘Guiding Light’, which Sheeran features in.

54. ‘The three-leaf clover’ Tattoo

Tattoo: The three-leaf tattoo inked around his right forearm is for his “Grandad,” who was Irish.

55. ‘Flowers’ Tattoo

Tattoo: Ed Sheeran has flowers inked on his lower abdomen.

56. ‘Tree’ Tattoo

Tattoo: Colorful tree inked on the left side of his stomach.

57. ‘Panda’ Tattoo

Tattoo: Panda inked on the left side of his stomach.

58. ‘Smiley’ Tattoo

Tattoo: Smiley inked on the right side of his lower abdomen.

59. ‘Shark’ Tattoo

Tattoo: Animated shark tattoed on the left side of his stomach.

60. ‘6 St’ Tattoo

Tattoo: 6 St inked on Ed’s left bicep.

Meaning: Ed got this tattoo on the belief that he had written the “photograph song” on 6 street Denver, Colorado whereas he had written it in 6th Avenue.

61. ‘Rose’ Tattoo

Tattoo: Ed Sheeran has a huge RedRose inked on his left shoulder.

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62. ‘Tribute to Michael Gudinski’ Tattoo

Tattoo: ‘Tribute to Michael Gudinski’ tattoo on his right forearm.

Meaning: On the sudden death of Ed Sheeran’s friend and father-figure, Michael Gudinski, at the beginning of March 2021, he along with Michael’s son Matt, paid tribute to MG by getting the tattoo of MG’s signature pose inked on their respective arms on March 27, 2021, by ‘Grey Street Tattoo’ in Melbourne.