Apparently we’re in the middle of something called “Leo Season.” Coworkers of mine are obsessed with the horoscope, whereas I think the whole thing is rubbish. But… I was born in August, thus I’m a Leo. When people talk about Leo Season, I just figure that it’s all a celebration of me. Plus, lions are cool. So why not use the whole thing as an excuse to look at some badass lion tattoos? 

The King of the Jungle has been a muse of artists for centuries. It really is impossible to look at a lion without marveling at its majesty, with the possible exception of a Detroit Lion. No majesty there. 

As far as tattoos go, I noticed something odd during my extensive research for this article. Most lion tattoos end up being in black-and-grey or color realism. Much to my surprise there are very few traditional lion tattoos out in the world. There are tons of panthers and tigers, but for some reason the king of all big cats gets left out of the fun. I’ve been pondering this for a while and the best possible thesis I have is that American traditional is heavily influenced by Japanese tattooing, and there aren’t any lions in Japan. Of course, it only took me about 30 seconds to obliterate this theory—there aren’t any gorillas or wolves or bald eagles in Japan either, but tons of those tattoo designs exist—so we’re back to square one. 

That all being said, there are a lot of tremendous lion tattoos out in the world. Probably many more than there are actual lions left in the wild. If you love lions, don’t waste your time watching the “live action” “Lion King” movie and enjoy this gallery of lion tattoos instead. 

And we would be remiss if we did not include the most famous (or infamous) of all lion tattoos, Cara Delevingne’s finger tattoo by Bang Bang.