The Rock’s Polynesian Tattoo Uncovered

Dwayne the Rock Johnson has two tattoos including a design of a bull on his right upper arm and a marquesan tahitian mix tattoo all over his left shoulder.

The tattoo on Dwayne’s right arm corresponds with his zodiac sign of Taurus the Bull and the bull is a long horn type. The design is done in a simple outline style and the eyes of the bull are coloured in red.

The design on his left shoulder and arm was done by a tattooist in Hawaii. This design incorporates lots of traditional patterns in tribal symbols and patterns. These symbols represent Dwayne, his wife and daughter. The design wraps around his upper arm and over the shoulder on to his chest. He sat for this tattoo in two sessions and in the second session he had the section on his chest extended adding a large warrior face over his heart.
This sleeve tattoo has symbols and patterns that are personal to Dwayne’s family and his spiritualism. At the top of his shoulder he has the leaves of coconuts inked “niu”, these denote a warrior chief. Next to the leaves he has the sun which is a symbol of good fortune. This follows on to a ga fa’ atasi (three people in one), this is Dwayne himself, his wife Danny and his daughter Simone. The design then goes on to swirling symbols and these represent present and future. The design continues under his arm where the meaning of the swirls are written “it changes in the places where it is found to be gone”. The eyes designed next to the swirls represent his ancestors watching over him.

At the bottom of the sleeve he has stones designed and these are symbols of his achievements. The stones are said to be the foundations of his life and they are the symbol of the right to stand and speak with honour. Just underneath the stones are the tortoise shells, these are said to deflect any evil spirits as warriors used these shells as shields.

It took fifteen to twenty hours just to have the sleeve over his arm and shoulder inked. He has taken so much time and thought over the sleeve because it tells the story of his life and what his life represents and more importantly what is important in his life.