Full back black koi tattoo with lotus
Black and white koi tat
This girl means business. Her koi tattoo extends from the base of her neck down to her butt and is pretty intimidating.
Full back black koi tattoo with lotus
Although large koi fish tattoos like the one in this picture are common among men, some girls opt for impressive koi tattoos as well. The back is a great place for a koi tat because it’s a wide open canvas and it gives you lots of great options for tattoo ideas. This girl’s back tattoo in particular is inked in black and white and includes a large koi fish swimming in water, a lotus flower and other kinds of flowers.
Koi fish are often depicted in tattoos as swimming in water, since the legend of the koi dictates that the fish have the strength and perseverance to swim upstream and even up waterfalls. According to Chinese myth, the destiny of the koi fish was to be transformed into a dragon, which they fulfilled by swimming up the waterfall at a place called Dragon Gate. Because of this, the meaning of koi tattoos is typically courage, overcoming obstacles and tenacity.
