Laurel Tattoo Meaning

Victory, achievement, honor, and earned triumph.

The Laurel is the crown of earned triumph — the evergreen leaf woven into the wreath that crowned victors, poets, and emperors, the sign that one has achieved something worthy of being honored and remembered. To carry the Laurel is to carry victory, achievement, honor, and earned triumph — the crown of Apollo set on the brow of champions and poets, the imperial wreath of Rome's conquerors, the timeless emblem of the achievement that has been won and recognized.

In ancient Greece the laurel was sacred to Apollo, the god of the sun, music, poetry, prophecy, and the arts — and the laurel wreath became the highest honor a person could wear, the crown of Apollo set upon the brow of those who had achieved excellence. The laurel's sacredness to Apollo comes from the myth of Daphne: the nymph Daphne, pursued by the lovestruck Apollo, prayed for escape and was transformed into a laurel tree at the very moment he reached her. Apollo, unable to have her, made the laurel his sacred tree and wore its leaves forever in her memory — and so the laurel became his emblem.

From this, the laurel wreath became the crown of the highest achievement in Apollo's domains. Victors in the Pythian Games — the athletic and artistic contests held at Delphi in Apollo's honor — were crowned with laurel. Poets and musicians who reached the heights of their art were crowned with laurel, the origin of our 'poet laureate.' To be crowned with laurel was to be marked as one who had achieved excellence worthy of the god himself — the highest honor, the visible sign of triumph in the noblest human endeavors. The Greek laurel is the crown of Apollo — worn by victors and poets as the highest honor, the wreath of earned excellence. The Greek laurel is the crown of Apollo — sacred to the god of poetry and the arts from the myth of Daphne (the nymph transformed into a laurel tree as Apollo reached her, made his sacred tree forever after); worn by victors and poets as the highest honor, crowning champions of the Pythian Games and the greatest poets and musicians (the origin of 'poet laureate'), the visible sign of triumph in the noblest human endeavors.

Laurel across cultures

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