36 Exquisite Roman Numeral Tattoo Designs

On the verge of 30, I’ve taken it upon myself to do one important thing this year: Learn my roman numerals. Well, important may be a bit of a stretch but it’s still one of those things in life I feel silly not knowing. Yes I can tell the time on a watch but anything past that is a slow head shaker.

Sure roman numerals look cool, which is why they are still used on occasion, but if you were to ask a random passerby to write down the current date in roman numerals you’d probably get a look of bewilderment followed by an awkward laugh in return. And for good reason. Besides the annual super bowl logo and a few expensive watch faces, roman numerals are about as foreign as moon rocks or recalling someone’s phone number from memory.

Unfortunately, knowing the meaning behind a particular tattoo design isn’t usually too important. We’ve all heard the stories of people getting Chinese characters tattooed on their arms only to find out later that “tranquility” actually turned out to be “chicken poop.” I guess it’s a good thing that roman numerals are a little easier to look up than Chinese characters.

As far as roman numeral tattoos go, they sure do look a lot snazzier than natural numbers. Commonly used to ink an important date, roman numeral tattoos are some of the classiest tattoos in existence. If you’re trying to decide which way to go, here are a few examples to consider.

This chest date.

A close shave indeed. Or perhaps a proper waxing? (Photo: Amilcar)

10-21-96

Roman numerals are a combination of letters from the Latin language. (Photo: Cameron)

These connected crossbars.

Usually seen only on watches, connected crossbars have a classic and elegant feel to them that their counterparts lack. On this particular piece a soft white outline puts the finishing touch on an already awesome design. (Photo: Aquiles Reyes)