David Beckham’s neck and head tattoos
On the left side of Beckham’s neck, he wears two tattoos for his daughter: the nаme “Harper” in cursive below the words “Pretty Lady.” Above the latter, Beckham then later tattooed a rose near the words “I love you,” which wraps around to the back of his neck. Flying above the rose toward Beckham’s left ear is a flock of birds. On Beckham’s tragus (that little fold by the ear canal), Beckham has a tiny rose. On the ear itself, he has a black heart. The birds also fly up to the left side of his head, where he has a model of the solar system—often hidden in his hair. On the back of his neck is a gothic-style crucifix with wings just above the nаme for his son, “Romeo.”
Moving to Beckham’s front, he has another rose on his throat next to the words “dadda do it,” the subject and verb of which is split by a black horse, reportedly representing his wife, Victoria. There’s also a written tattoo across his collarbone, though the words are hard to make out. On his right in the same position as the “Harper,” Beckham wears a tattoo for his son Brooklyn. The tattoo, also in cursive, reads “Buster,” Brooklyn’s nickname.
Beckham’s back tattoos
STEPHEN DUNN//GETTY IMAGES
On his back, Beckham wears a large angel in a crucified position and hung between “Romeo” on his neck and “Cruz” midway down his spine. On his lower back is the nаme “Brooklyn.” These three nаme tattoos represent Beckham’s sons.
David Beckham’s chest tattoos
GILLES MINGASSON//GETTY IMAGES
Let’s start on the left. On Beckham’s left beck he wears religious iconography: an intricate tattoo of three cherubs lifting Jesus from his tomb. In a Facebook video, Beckham explained the tattoo is “Jesus being carried by three cherubs and obviously the cherubs are boys. My thought of it is, at some point my boys [Brooklyn, Romeo and Cruz] are going to need to look after me and that’s what they’re doing in the picture.” On the opposite side is another intricate image—a painting, “The Agony in the Garden” by Gustave Doré—though the meaning here is more cryptic. Both pieces are joined at the sternum by a minimalist cross.
VCG//GETTY IMAGES
Under Beckham’s right armpit is a ship, a matching tattoo he reportedly shares with his father. Moving down to Beckham’s right oblique, we find biblical images: a haloed Christ seated on the cross (reportedly in honor of his grandfather) just below an apparent bible passage. Below his left armpit in a similar position as the ship, Beckham has an eagle in flight and the head of a first nation’s chief. On his left ribcage, Beckham wears several tattoos, including the date 1975 (his birth year), “We Love You Daddy,” and “Mum & Dad.” These words are joined perpendicularly by a passage from Confucius’ The Analects (生死有命,富貴由天), which runs down to his left hip and means, roughly, “life and deаth have determined appointments; riches and honor depend upon heaven.”
David Beckham’s right arm tattoos
STEPHEN DUNN//GETTY IMAGES
Beckham has two complete sleeves on each arm. His right begins at the shoulder with an angel and the words, “In the Face of Adversity,” supposedly representing the fallout of his 2004 affair. Underneath, on the bicep, Beckham has more cherub tattoos, also representing his sons. The sleeve continues down his right forearm with an intricate artwork of clouds. Amidst the clouds are another angel, the Roman phrase “Let Them Hate As Long as Long As They Feаr,” and the words “Pray For Me,” the final one inked around the time he moved from Manchester United to the LA Galaxy.
QUINN ROONEY//GETTY IMAGES
Amidst the clouds on the inside of his forearm, he has the Latin words “Perfectio In Spiritu” below the roman numeral “VII” for Beckham’s jersey number. By the wrist is another roman numeral, “VIII.V.MMVI” (May 8, 2006) a date he shares with his wife. The tattoo is accompanied by the Latin words “De Integro”—something like “anew” or “fresh” or “start over again.”
David Beckham’s right hand tattoos
MICHAEL REAVES//GETTY IMAGES
Beckham’s hand is also fairly covered. He wears “Victoria” in cursive across the hand beside a hummingbird and above the words “Dream Big Be Unrealistic,” inspired by Jay-Z lyrics. Beneath these words are the words “My Love.” Below the hummingbird is the number “32,” Beckham’s jersey number when he played for Milan. On his fingers, he has the number “7,” another jersey number, a rose, and the number “99” for 1999 when he married Victoria.
On his right palm, he has a stick figure drawing by his daughter Harper with a heart.
David Beckham’s left arm tattoos
QUINN ROONEY//GETTY IMAGES
Beckham’s left sleeve is split into two parts. The first covers the shoulder and depicts a Renaissance painting of Cupid flying his wife Psyche into the heavens.
At the elbow, there are ten ringed roses, which begin the second major part of the sleeve. This section mostly contains dark coloring with light stars, and includes several other tattoos therein, the largest being an image of Victoria herself. Around her are plants as well as the Latin phrase “Ut Amem Et Foveam” (“to love and cherish”), Hebrew words meaning “I am my beloved’s and my beloved is mine,” and another rose. On his forearm, amid the stars, Beckham has Victoria’s nаme written in large Sanskrit lettering, as well as the phrase “Forever By Your Side”
David Beckham’s left hand tattoos
On Beckham’s hand are the word “Love,” the words “Lead with Love,” and two swallows. By his right thumb is the number “723,” representing his football jersey numbers. On his index finger is the word “seven” and on his pinky finger is the number “7”—seven also a related to his daughter. On his ring finger he has a rose.