Here's What Dua Lipa's Tattoos Really Mean
From her 2017 smash hit "New Rules" to her Grammy-winning album Future Nostalgia, Dua Lipa has taken the music industry by storm the last several years. With her iconic outfits, adorable interviews, and swoon-worthy Instagram photos, she is on everyone's mind right now.
Despite signing with Warner Bros. Records in 2014, it wasn't until 2017 that Lipa released her debut album. However, she was making hits before her debut dropped, such as her first hit, the 2015 pop song "New Love," and other singles like "Be the One" and "Last Dance." Ever since her debut in 2017, it seems she's been making hit after hit like "IDGAF," "Hallucinate," and "Don't Start Now," to name a few. And throughout her hits, she's been having us groove right along with her.
As her music career continues to take off, Dua Lipa continues to collect tattoos. From small homages to her family to at least one used as an announcement, the British pop star has gotten more than a few meaningful tattoos since her first one back in 2015.
Dua Lipa's first few tattoos are some of the most talked about
Dua Lipa's first-ever tattoo was an homage to her homeland of Kosovo. She got it in January of 2015. On the inside of her right arm is an inked line of script with the words "SUNNY HILL." Sunny Hill is actually the English translation of the Bregu i Diellit district in Kosovo's capital city of Pristina. In a 2019 interview with Refinery29, Lipa explained, "It's the neighborhood my parents grew up in Kosovo ... [Sunny Hill] became the name of our foundation and then the name of our festival. It holds a special meaning for me."
Later in 2015, Lipa got the cheeky phrase "This Means Nothing" tattooed on her left arm. Her tattoo artist, Sean From Texas, wrote it in his own handwriting. In a YouTube live chat, she explained why she got the tattoo: "Then my second tattoo was because this one had meaning and I just wanted to get another tattoo, I got a tattoo that says 'this means nothing,' so there is no meaning behind that one" (via YourTango).
Lipa has quite a few finger tattoos
It seems as though every pop star has a love for finger tattoos. Ariana Grande, Miley, Cyrus, and Dua Lipa all have their fingers covered in some edgy tattoos. Lipa has quite a few finger tattoos, such as a faint smiley face on her right pinky finger, a flame tattoo on her left pointer finger knuckle, and a couple of others (via PopSugar) — one of which is a tattoo of an eight-point starburst on her middle finger. It's actually a stick-and-poke tattoo from her drummer's wife, Amy Louise (via Body Art Guru).
The last of her finger tattoos are of a matching pair of dancing men artwork on both thumbs, which she got done in 2015 while filming the music video for "New Love." The dancing men tattoo is actually based on artist Keith Haring's creation. Lipa said, "I have two Keith Haring tattoos on my thumbs because I love Keith Haring the artist and because I couldn't afford the art, I thought I might as well have it drawn on me" (via YourTango).
Dua Lipa has a few stick-and-poke tattoos on her body
In 2016, Dua Lipa got the word "ANGEL" tattooed on her right shoulder. She said to GQ, "I have an angel on my shoulder." Her next tattoo surfaced in 2017; Lipa had the word "PATIENCE" permanently inked on her left hand to remind herself to breathe and stay calm (via PopSugar).
Remember the starburst stick-and-poke tattoo done by Amy Louise, Lipa's drummer's wife? Well, she also gave the singer a stick-and-poke all-seeing eye tattoo on her ankle. On Twitter and Instagram, Lipa had posted the (since-deleted) photo with the caption, "@williambowerman has come over for dinner and as a house warming gift his wife is giving me a stick n poke tattoo" (via Body Art Guru). She got the "all-seeing eye" for protection, even as the ink is one of Lipa's least visible designs. The session, as can be seen from the photo, was done in the pop star's kitchen (via PopSugar).
2018 was a big year for Lipa's tattoo collection
Near the start of 2018, Dua Lipa got a script tattoo saying MUM + DAD near her right elbow. She got the ink back in February to honor her parents, Anesa Lipa and Dukagjin Lipa. Along with her parents, Lipa got a minimalist tattoo for her younger siblings Rina and Gjin. To honor them, she got the initials "R" and "G" on her inner left wrist (via PopSugar).
Probably one of her most infamous tattoos is the edgy rose tattoo on her bicep. Along with being a beautiful design, the story behind her getting the tattoo is something out of an adventure novel. She got it at 2 a.m. in Paris with Madame Buraka (via BodyArtGuru).
Now arguably, the most iconic of Dua Lipa's tattoos is the heart-shaped barbed wire tattoo on her left forearm, which she also got done in 2018 by her go-to artist Sean. The last tattoo of 2018 was a simple palm tree inked on the back of her upper left arm. Like some of her other tattoos, the meaning is quite simple: It's an homage to LA and her love of palm trees (via YourTango).
Lipa has a few tattoos in honor of her music career
Along with getting meaningful tattoos for her family, Dua Lipa has gotten a few in honor of her music career. The first one being Lipa's "245" tattoo on the back of her left arm. Now why the number 245 specifically? She got the numbered tattoo to represent the number of shows she did on her first tour back in 2018 (via Showbiz Cheat Sheet). But she wasn't the only one to do so, because many people on tour with her did the exact same tattoo to honor the experience (via PopSugar).
For fans who remember the good old days of 2019, Lipa announced the title of her now Grammy-winning album Future Nostalgia with a brand-new tattoo on her left arm. Now instead of an album announcement, it's an homage to her first Grammy win and that's probably a little bit cooler.
Some of Lipa's tattoos have cultivated fan theories
Now, some tattoos Dua Lipa hasn't commented on yet, but that isn't stopping the fan theories. One of the mysterious tattoos is an Arabic phrase tattooed on her right forearm. Many fans believe it's the Arabic word for "love," but stated previously, she's never confirmed or denied the theories. However, if you look closely, it is startlingly similar to the Arabic symbol (via PopSugar).
The latest piece of her tattoo collection is the number "7" tattooed on her left bicep. Again, while she has yet to comment on it, many believe it's a nod to the BTS album Map of the Soul: 7, due to the similar design (via PopSugar).
With more than a dozen tattoos in six years, fans are itching to see what Dua Lipa will tattoo next. But, whether it be another album announcement maybe or a tattoo for her beau, Anwar Hadid, Lipa will surely find a cool way to express it.