Brad started collecting tattoos in 2006, from what we have noticed. In this section we try to provide as much information as we possibly can. Meanings are interpretations of course, as Brad has never talked about his tattoos. If he does mention any of them, we will quote him and refer you to the official interview.
He has quite a collection by now so we go by bodypart.
Chest
• What: It looks like an abstract line art reproduction.
• Location: On the far right side of his chest.
• Date: It was first spotted in 2017.
• Meaning: Unknown.
Stomach
• What: Numbers.
• Location: On his stomach, under his navel.
• Date: It was first spotted in 2007.
• Meaning: Angelina Jolie’s birthdate 4/6/75 in Kmher.
• What: Writing.
• Location: On his stomach.
• Date: It was first spotted in october 18, 2014.
• Meaning: Unknown.
• What: Tree.
• Location: Right side of his stomach.
• Date: It was first spotted in 2019.
• Meaning: It looks like a tree with unknown writing underneath it. The writing first appeared in november 20, 2020.
• What: Writing.
• Location: Across his left side.
• Date: It was first spotted in 2015.
• Meaning: “We live, we die, we know not why, but I’ll be with you when the deal goes down”. A Bob Dylan lyric from the song “When The Deal Goes Down”.
• What: Hurricane.
• Location: Left side of his stomach.
• Date: It was first spotted in 2017.
• Meaning: It looks like a drawing of a hurricane.
• What: Writing.
• Location: Left side of his stomach.
• Date: It was first spotted in 2015.
• Meaning: A Buddhist symbol by Thai tattoo artist Ajarn Noo Kanpai.
Back
• What: Lines.
• Location: His lower back.
• Date: The lines were first spotted in 2006.
• Meaning: From an interview with Entertainment Weekly with Angelina Jolie (June, 2008):
“What’s the deal with Brad’s new tattoo?
I drew that. We went to Davos. It’s not that we were bored at the World Economic Forum, but one night we didn’t have anything to do, so I was drawing on his back.
So it’s not permanent?
It is. But I was just sketching.
On him?
On him, yeah.
And you thought, ”Let’s make it a tattoo”?
He just liked it! The picture everybody saw was kind of awkward, but it just lines up beautifully on his back, just enhances the part of the body I like.
So it doesn’t mean anything per se.
I mean, it’s meaningful in that it’s us making angles and shapes out of each other’s body, that kind of a thing.”
• What: Animal.
• Location: On the left side of his back.
• Date: It was was first spotted in 2017.
• Meaning: It looks like a deer, caveman drawing style.
• What: Several backtattoos.
• Location: On the right and left side and middle of his back.
• Date: They were first spotted in january 2021.
• Meaning: No clear picture of these yet.
Right arm
• What: Cross and letters.
• Location: On his right forearm.
• Date: The cross was first spotted in 2013. The letters were first spotted in 2014.
• Meaning: The letters A (Angelina) and the letters of their children on the other side of the black line M (Maddox), P (Pax), Z (Zahara), S (Shiloh), K (Knox) and V (Vivienne). The ‘A’ was covered with a star, which first appeared november 12, 2019.
• What: Writing.
• Location: On his right bicep.
• Date: The writing was first spotted in 2014.
• Meaning: A variation of part of a Rumi poem, and reads: ‘There exists a field, beyond all notions of right and wrong. I will meet you there.’
• What: Human shadow.
• Location: On his right bicep.
• Date: It was first spotted in august 28, 2019.
• Meaning: It looks like a human staring at his own shadow.
• What: Tree.
• Location: On his right bicep.
• Date: It was first spotted in 2019.
• Meaning: It looks like the outlines of a tree.
• What: Bee.
• Location: On his right forearm.
• Date: It was first spotted in november 12, 2019.
• Meaning: It looks like a bee.
• What: Tank.
• Location: On his right forearm.
• Date: It was first spotted in july 24, 2020.
• Meaning: It looks like a tank, driving on the longest line of the cross tattoo.
• What: Skull.
• Location: On his right upperarm.
• Date: It was first spotted in august, 2020.
• Meaning: It looks like some sorta custom skull, reminding of the Marvel character Thanos.
• What: Writing.
• Location: On his right upperarm, next to the skull.
• Date: It was first spotted in october, 2020.
• Meaning: It looks to say ‘Amor fati’ which translates to: ‘To love one’s fate’.
Left arm
• What: Bike.
• Location: On his upper leftarm.
• Date: It was first spotted in 2017 for his GQ Style photoshoot.
• Meaning: It appears to be the front view of a motorcycle.
• What: Writing.
• Location: On the inside of his left forearm.
• Date: It was first spotted in 2008.
• Meaning: ‘Invictus’ (latin for ‘invincible’. which could refer to the short poem by William Ernest Henley.
• What: Writing.
• Location: Across the inside of his left forearm.
• Date: It was first spotted in 2006.
• Meaning: It spells “Absurdites de l’ existence” which means absurdities of the existence which could be inspired by the foreword of the book by Daniel Pearl ‘Collected Writings from The Wall Street Journal’.
“I wish you a good journey through Danny’s writings. It is my sincere hope that his spirit and values will radiate from all of you who he inspires. I hope that, like me, you will be able to laugh with Danny as he navigates you through the ‘absurdités de l’existence’. Mainly, I trust that Danny’s flame will keep burning in you as it does in me, his wife. — Mariane Pearl, Paris, France”.
• What: Human.
• Location: Inside of his left forearm.
• Date: It was first spotted in 2007.
• Meaning: The tattoo strongly resembles the image of the 5000 year old mummy ‘Oetzi’ The Iceman. A man that climbed up the icy heights of the Schnalstal glacier and died. He was found by accident in 1991, with his clothes and equipment. Frozen and mummified. An archaeological sensation and a unique snapshot of a Copper Age man.
• What: Writing.
• Location: On his left forearm.
• Date: It was first spotted in 2014.
• Meaning: From Details magazine (November 2014): “I will always be most comfortable in the outdoors. I grew up in the Ozarks–something resembling Mark Twain country. The woods, rivers, bluffs, lakes, and caves have all left an indelible mark on me. And I’m quite reverential when it comes to a tree. On my forearm, I had tattooed ‘94.9m (311.4ft)’–the height of the largest sequoia.”
Legs
• What: Unknown.
• Location: On his right calve.
• Date: It was first spotted in 2009.
• Meaning: Unknown.
• What: Unknown.
• Location: On his legs.
• Date: These were first spotted august 29, 2020.
• Meaning: Several unknown leg tattoos.
• What: Animal.
• Location: On his left calve.
• Date: It was first spotted in july 11, 2020.
• Meaning: It looks like the outlines of a rhino, frontview.
