If the world hails David Beckham as simply one of the greatest football players we’ve witnessed in our times, they should stop, as there’s much more to him. More than just being a sportsperson, David Beckham has gone on to sport many tattoos, each symbolizing reasons and meanings of his life. Best of all, he’s amongst the greatest celebrities who sports his tattoos with as much élan, as he does with his haircuts, clothing lines and other endorsements.
Firslty, to symbolise his love for his wife, Victoria, he has her name written in Hindi. Theres’ many who have criticized it, saying it’s been wrongly spelled as “Vhictoria” rather than “Victoria,”, however little do they know that pronunciations vary with languages.
Secondly, Beckham’s tattoo in Hebrew reads “I am my beloveds, and my beloved is mine, that shepherds among the lilies.” – See picture above.
Thirdly, Beckham sports a 2ft-long tattoo drawn over his entire right arm. This tattoo goes onto join a clouds and cherub design over his shoulders. There’s’ numerous tattoos drawn in this region all the way to his wrist and this gives the impression of a continuous tattoo. The tattoo has been drawn by Manchester based tattoo artist Louis Malloy, completed on Sunday 11th March and Tuesday 13th March, the day David said goodbye to his Manchester United fans. The tattoo took two sittings to be completed.
Speaking of Manchester United, there’s 2 ‘figurative’ pieces that echo his feelings about leaving the football club. The former English captain has the words ‘Pray For Me‘ drawn on the inside of his right wrist. The other symbolic tattoo is a Knight Templar, symbolized by a cross. This is a close resemblance to him and the England team as the Templar Knights is identifiable by their white mantle with distinct red cross.
The chief tattoo on Beckham’s forearm is a giant angel sentinel who holds a flame in her hand which lights up her face from below. The wings spread around Beckham’s arm and join together with the other tattoos.
The other notable tattoo on his arm is a quote by the Roman Emperor Tiberius and has been used by Caligula reads “Lets them hate (me) as long as they fear (me).” Though Beckham wanted it written in Latin, it’s been drawn in English. The reason being when translated the tattoo would have the word ‘dum’ and this could be a possible butt of mean jokes from the ever foolish critics.
It is difficult to spot this tattoo as its well merged with the existing tattoos. The words ‘Perfectio In Spiritu’ meaning spiritual perfection are also drawn as well as the roman numerals VII that refer to Beckham’s No7 shirt.
His left hand has the words “Ut Amem et Foveam,” which mean “So that I love and cherish“. The huge angel in the shape of a cross on his back has his three sons’ names Romeo, Brooklyn and Cruz.
With sleeve tattoos taking over both arms and numerous designs fighting for space across his torso, David Beckham’s commitment to body-art would make a veteran Hell’s Angel proud.
His latest piece of needle work, a depiction of Jesus on his lower right abdomen, received its first public airing at the weekend during AC Milan’s 3-0 win over Juventus.Here below, we chart the history of the former England skipper’s seemingly never-ending collection of tattoos.David first got the body art bug when he became a dad in 1999. To commemorate Brooklyn’s birth, the then Man United star had his son’s name written in gothic script across his lower back.Becks followed this up with a guardian angel a bit further up.In 2000, David opted to have his wife Victoria’s name tattooed in Hindi on his left arm, believing it to be less tacky than having it etched in English. Sadly for Goldenballs, things didn’t go quite to plan, with the tribute being misspelt as “Vihctoria”.
David took a break from tatts for a couple of years, before having the number 7 – his shirt number for Man United and England – emblazoned on his right forearm in 2002.
A year later, he went for a Latin-inspired double, with the phrase "Perfectio In Spiritu", on his right arm ("Spiritual Perfection") and Ut Amem Et Foveam", ( "So That I Love And Cherish"), on his left. Making sure son number two didn’t feel left out, Beckham had Romeo's name added to his back, along with a classical art design on his right shoulder.2004 saw Becks get a large winged cross on the back of his neck, along with an Angel on his right arm with the motto "In the Face of Adversity".
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