50 guillotine tattoos: best design and meaning

These drawings may seem a little strange, but in fact there are not so many of them. In the tattoo world, guillotines are considered by some to be an interesting and noteworthy design, but to be honest, they are not that common and, rather, are rather specific designs.

Some historians speak of the guillotine as a symbol of the French Revolution, which was first used in 1792 and was used to execute both aristocrats and foreigners, revolutionaries, counter-revolutionaries, bourgeois and peasants. Opinions about this apparatus were divided: an instrument of democratic justice or a weapon of tyrannical terror?

Guillotine drawings are usually not accompanied by other elements: they simply show the entire apparatus, sometimes drenched in blood, sometimes not. They are often medium to large in size and are almost always found on fairly elongated areas of the body such as the arms, legs, and back.

Some details about the guillotines

The guillotine is defined as a tool used to execute people on death row. It is a device consisting of two vertical rods connected by a transverse and grooved beam to be able to guide a blade with a terribly sharp, slanted bottom edge, which forcefully pierces the victim's neck.

Paradoxical as it may sound, the guillotine was originally developed as a more humane and less painful means of execution. The guillotine's reign as a lethal machine officially ended in September 1981, after 180 years of use, when France abolished the death penalty.

Another somewhat disturbing and startling fact: in the 1790s, the most popular toys in France were miniature copies of this instrument. Kids used them to decapitate dolls or even small rodents. Violence has been in society since childhood ...

Symbols of guillotine tattoos

While talking about guillotines may sound a little unsettling to you, you might be surprised that its symbolic meaning doesn't necessarily have to do with negative things. Because the guillotine can be something that you need to cut with strength to move forward in life.

It can also symbolize giving up vices or unhealthy habits that keep you from being happy. The guillotine doesn't always have to be a symbol of death and destruction, it can also be a sign that you desperately need radical and positive changes in your life.

After all, guillotine tattoos, as you will see in the following images, are not such a bad idea - if done by an experienced tattoo artist with taste.