Katy Perry’s Tattoos

Katy Perry has five small tattoos:

1. Jesus on her wrist
2. a strawberry on her ankle
3. Sanskrit on her arm
4. a peppermint on her ankle
5. a lotus flower on her wrist

Jesus Tattoo

Katy Perry’s oldest tattoo is “Jesus” written on her left wrist, which she got when she was 18. Katy comes from a religious family and her parent are both evangelical ministers. She grew up listening to only gospel music and released her own gospel album under her real name Katy Hudson in 2001.
Katy got this tattoo as a constant reminder of her religious upbringing, which will always be a part of her. In 2009 she told Katie Couric “I knew I wanted this on me because no matter how much changes around me or how much I change, there’s not really an eraser for this.” She says that when she plays the guitar, “It stares right back at me. It’s like ‘remember, you came from this, and you can always go back to it.’”
Katy has not spoken much about her current religious beliefs, but it seems that this tattoo is mostly about how she has been shaped by her past. “I think I’m not exactly what I was born into, but I still have my roots,” she says. “I appreciate it, and I respect it to the fullest.” Katy has clashed with her religious parents over her partying and songs about kissing girls, but they remain generally supportive of her career.

Strawberry Tattoo

Katy Perry tattooed a smiling strawberry on the inside of her left ankle in July 2009. Before getting the tattoo, she tweeted “Thinking about getting my second tattoo tonight! I wanna get a cartoon-ish strawberry to celebrate this amazeballs past 15 months.” Afterwards she posted a picture of the fresh ink and wrote “My new little friend… what shall be her name?”
Katy Perry got this tattoo to commemorate the success of her album One Of The Boys. She used inflatable strawberries as a prop on stage throughout her “Hello Katy” world tour and fruit motifs also appeared in her costumes and accessories. Speaking of the success of the album, Katy said “This past year and a half has been insane. I’m happy I’ve survived it. I really feel like this record really super-ceded my expectations. It’s been amazing. I didn’t think I would be all around the world in one year…I’ve just had so much success with this record beyond what I planned. You’re never really ready for this type of thing, and getting a tattoo would kind of be like to remember the first time.”

Sanskrit Tattoo

In June 2010, Katy Perry and her then-fiancé Russell Brand got matching tattoos on the inside of their right biceps. The tattoo says “Anuugacchati Pravaha” which means “Go with the flow” in Sanskrit.
Sanskrit is spoken primarily in India, a country with special significance to the couple. Russell proposed to Katy in December 2009 while they were vacationing in Jaipur, India. The couple were married in India in October 2010 with a Hindu ceremony. After just over a year of marriage, they filed for divorce on January 2012.

Peppermint Tattoo

In November 2011, Katy Perry tattooed a smiling cartoon peppermint candy on the inside of her right ankle to match the strawberry on her other ankle. While the strawberry represents One Of The Boys, the peppermint represents her candy-themed Teenage Dream album cycle and California Dreams Tour. The album cover has “Teenage Dream” written in a peppermint font. Katy also has a few peppermint stage outfits, and she wore one of them while she had the tattoo done.
The Sun reports that 50 members of Katy’s tour team also got the tattoo. Tattoo artist Bang Bang traveled with the tour for a week doing all of the tattoos. Katy took the gun herself to give Bang Bang a tattoo of the same peppermint design on his leg. At the same time, her then-husband Russell Brand got a tattoo for soccer team West Ham United on his arm.

Lotus Tattoo

Katy Perry got a tiny outline of a lotus flower tattooed on her wrist in January 2012. She has not yet spoken to the press about this tattoo.