Your Complete Guide to Zoë Kravitz’s Many Tattoos

Tiny yet visible, Kravitz’s very first tattoo is on the inner area of her right wrist. The design is a heart with umlauts above it, which she got at 18 to symbolize self-love.

The actor also has a realistic cassette-tape design on her right forearm, which fans speculate is a symbol of her love and connection to music, and the word “OM” written in Sanskrit on her right hand to symbolize the sound of the universe.

Zoë and her mother, Lisa Bonet, are famously close, so it’s no surprise that she has a “Mama” tattoo. Hers is featured just above her right elbow along with an outline of a heart.

Kravitz also has what appears to be two handprints surrounded by decorative dots and designs.

On the upper left corner of her back shoulder is a detailed dragonfly. After learning that her previous Arabic script tattoo was grammatically incorrect (it was supposed to read, “Let love rule”), Kravitz completed laser removal then had Dr. Woo cover up the area with the whimsical piece.

Kravitz also has two lines of script on her spine in black ink, however it is difficult to see in photos and she has not disclosed the tattoo’s meaning.

According to Body Art Guru, this tattoo is a tribute to Nina Simone’s song “Mississippi Goddam,” which was released in 1964 and details the struggles of the Black experience during the civil rights movement. Kravitz expressed that she was a fan of the singer in a 2015 interview with Harper’s Bazaar, stating, “When I’m going to bed, I’ll put on Billie Holiday, Nina Simone, or Joni Mitchell’s Blue album to fall asleep.”

Kravitz has two swallows on the back of her neck with the word “yes” between them. In tattoo culture, swallows have often represented themes of exploration, transformation, freedom, and care and affection.

Kravitz had her childhood nickname “Sweet Kid” inked below her left elbow.

Kravitz has arrow tattoos on both of her feet, with one headed toward the north and the other toward south. She also has a skull and crossbones symbol on her left ankle.

Kravitz has the phrase “Chica Bandita” on her left calf and a skull and crossbones on her right. “Bandito” is an Italian word for “bandit,” which Americans erroneously adopted as a word for a Mexican outlaw.

Though it’s hidden in many photos, a small script tattoo can be seen on Kravitz’s ribs. She has not revealed its meaning.

On her upper right arm, Kravitz has a crescent moon and star design.

Along her forearm, she has the words “être toujours ivre,” meaning “to always be drunk” in French. The phrase comes from a poem by Charles Baudelaire that states, “One must always be drunk.”

On Kravitz’s right wrist, you’ll find a singular arrow along with a cross and the number five. On her left, she has the word “wolf” written in cursive as a tribute to her half-brother, Nakoa-Wolf Manakauapo Namakaeha Momoa. On both wrists she has intricate stick-and-poke designs done by Talia Migliaccio in 2015.

Starting in 2016, Kravitz added a few more pieces to her left hand, including her father’s birthday, “5.26.64”; the outline of a star on her middle finger; a red heart on the inside of her middle finger; and the word “up” on the inside of her thumb.