Inked for Mom

In the 19^th and early 20^th centuries, mom tattoo tributes were commonly in memoriam. This design from a 1906 collection is typical in its melancholy imagery (the gravestone) and the relatively complicated design.
CREDIT: Tattoo Flash Book, C.V. Brownell, 1906. Courtesy Nicholas Schonberger.
Another set of designs from the turn of the 20^th century. While Sailor Jerry might have popularized the iconic mom heart, the shape had long been a part of the visual language of tattooing, entwined along with other tattoo classics like anchors and crosses. The word banner could be filled in with a sweetheart's name—or, of course, Mom.
CREDIT: Tattoo Flash Book, C.V. Brownell, 1906. Courtesy Nicholas Schonberger.
Even today, tattoos using similar iconography remain popular.
Image courtesy Flickr user Malia Reynolds of Memorial Tattoo in Atlanta.
Mom tattoos might have been popularized initially by sailors, but by the end of the 20^th century, they had permeated American culture so thoroughly that this 1993 Art Speigelman New Yorker cover portraying a mom taking her young son to get inked up scans simply as cute, not transgressive.
Illustration by Art Speigelman. Image courtesy CREDIT: The New Yorker.
Speaking of cute: A baby and father sport lookalike, classic Americana mom tributes at the 2004 Coney Island Mermaid Parade. (Don't call child protective services; the toddler's not really tattooed.)
Photograph by Stephen Chernin/Getty Images.
Traditionally, more men than women have sported tributes to Mom, but that seems to have changed some in recent years. Here, Kelly Osbourne shows off her winged tattoo, which reads Je Vous Aime la Maman.
Photograph by Larry Busacca/Getty Images for EJAF.
Realistic tattoo portraiture has become popular in recent years, like this black-and-white tribute to Mom.
Tattoo by Brian Everett. Image courtesy Marisa Kakoulas.
Or this Technicolor mom tattoo, which combines a realistic portrait with more Pop-y, cartoonish design elements.
Image courtesy the artist, CREDIT: Mike Demasi.
Hearts like this one that bear a closer resemblance to the organ than the symbol are a winkingly modern take on the classic mom tribute.
Image courtesy Sean Adams/Alex's New Tattoo.
Or there's the simple script tribute, as on this man sporting his mother's name across his skull.
Victor Decolongon/Getty Images.
Perhaps this gentleman was a test-tube baby.
Image courtesy Flickr user Deanna Wardin.
Mom tattoos have become increasingly personalized in recent years: This man requested a tribute to his mother designed around her favorite snack, Ruffles potato chips.
Image courtesy the artist, CREDIT: Richard Andrews.
This British woman asked for an image that would remind her of all the tea she and her mother drank together.
Image courtesy Champion Tattoo, Washington, D.C.