Cross Tattoos For Men: Discover 30 Stylish, Meaningful Designs
A cross tattoo is a powerful, religious design that often symbolizes faith, devout commitment, strength and personal sacrifice, making it a popular choice for those who want to showcase their piety and spirituality. For Christian men, this iconic symbol representing Jesus Christ's crucifixion serves as a reminder of God's boundless love and his willingness to endure suffering for the forgiveness of humankind's sins.
The most timeless cross tattoos for men are versatile, ruggedly attractive and meaningful, offering thoughtful, customizable artwork that looks great and can be tailored to reflect your preferences, from small and simple on the neck to bold and elaborate on the shoulder.
In this article, we'll show you some stylish examples of cross tattoo designs for men that blend classic religious meaning with modern artistry to create awesome, masculine ink.
Popular Men's Cross Tattoo Ideas
Cross Memorial Tattoo
A cross memorial tattoo is a profoundly meaningful design that acts as a symbol of remembrance for a cherished loved one, honoring their life and legacy. The cross suggests eternal life, and placing the artwork over the heart reinforces the significance of your ink while being easy to conceal. Add a bible verse, dates, names and roses to personalize your piece further.
Religious Back Cross Tattoo
A religious back tattoo is a spiritual choice that symbolizes an incredible sacrifice with its broad, symmetrical design that enhances your natural muscle tone. A cross with simple linework and bold light shading creates a clean, minimalistic finish that you can proudly display.
Awesome Forearm Cross Tattoo
A moving forearm cross tattoo is an awesome look for men who want to show off their design and stand out by making a bold, religious statement. This example features the realistic faces of Jesus Christ and a majestic lion, uses highly detailed shading for contrast and skillfully places these pieces to create the outline of a cross. The long cross fits perfectly on the forearm, and the piercing bright blue or colored eyes enhance the intensity. Add a timepiece above the faces to represent faith transcending time or a set destiny.
Black Band Cross Tattoo
A black band cross tattoo integrates solid shading with a religious symbol to create bold, masculine ink highlighting your spiritual strength. Here, the unbroken band suggests an eternal connection to your faith, and the lack of shading boosts the sharpness of your design. Requiring minimal touch-ups over time, it's the perfect "set it and forget it" ink.
Cross with Wings Chest Tattoo
A cross with wings is a striking chest tattoo, beautifully symbolizing freedom and guidance from above. The sternum is a prominent placement for a cross as it aligns directly with the heart. Stretch the wings across the chest to create a visually striking, balanced style enhanced with soft shading along the feathers.
Simple Cross Tattoo
A simple cross tattoo is ideal for minimalists as it boasts light shading, a subtle design and modern appeal. The smaller size makes your ink timeless, and it’s worth using a grey wash to bring more depth to the basic linework. The wrist or hand are visible placements, but placing the ink behind your ear is perfect for a more discreet look.
Allusive Half Sleeve Cross Tattoo
An allusive, half-sleeve cross tattoo is a dramatic choice that covers the upper arm with heavy shading to represent sacrifice and salvation. This design features storm clouds that convey Jesus’s suffering, while the angels above represent divine protection and peace. The half-sleeve leaves enough space to create a layered scene that draws the eye.
Cross Leg Tattoo
A classy cross tattoo on the leg is an impactful piece that gives you space to create bold, detailed artwork that's easy to conceal. Christ's face is tucked inside a curved cross, adding a layer of meaning that depicts his humility and sacrifice. Ask your artist to add blood spattering around the thorns for extra visual impact.
Creative Cross and Lion Tattoo
Getting a creative cross and lion tattoo allows you to express your courage and leadership with a faith-based design. The lion represents bravery in the face of adversity, while the three crucified bodies at the edge hint at the ultimate sacrifice. Contrasting shading and a smattering of grey ink around the mane will bring your artwork to life.
Unique Heart Bicep Tattoo with Cross Design
A heart bicep tattoo looks striking with a cross design, creating a powerful, personal piece that symbolizes undying love. This piece looks stunning with a heart and cross at its core, but feel free to add flames and a crown of thorns to give your ink an energetic, fiery look.
Realistic Jesus and Cross Arm Tattoo
A compelling, realistic cross and Jesus arm tattoo blends timeless significance with creativity and finesse to create an impactful scene. The soft shading around Christ's face and crown of thorns are intricate touches, while the light rays contrast the darker cross and looming clouds. The shoulder and upper arm offer the perfect canvas to play out this religious design.
Intricate Small Cross on Hand
A small, detailed cross tattoo on the hand is an understated design that uses a combination of black and white ink as a subtle reminder of your beliefs. Dotwork, meticulous shading and stacking make the artwork look almost three-dimensional for an eye-catching finish.
Praying Hands with Cross Rosary and Rose
A masculine Christian tattoo that pairs praying hands with a cross rosary and rose provides a powerful design, combining elements of faith, devotion and beauty. Placing your ink on the forearm offers enough space for hyper-realistic detailing. Add rays from heaven using negative space to contrast against the grey shading around the bulk of the piece.
Meaningful Cross and Name Tattoo
A cross and name tattoo combines a symbol of faith with a meaningful design to create fantastic artwork with personal significance. The cross represents sacrifice and redemption, while a name inked in cursive adds a touch of fluidity to your ink. Blend the name into the stem of your styling to avoid overwhelming the rich shading.
Bold Cross Forearm Tattoo
This cross forearm tattoo features a stark, black cross band near the crook of the elbow and is perfect for guys who appreciate simple and direct ink. You keep your faith as a focal point by choosing a clean design that removes excessive shading.
Classic Black Cross Tattoo
A black cross tattoo always looks classic and offers a timeless, straightforward aesthetic that stands out sharply against the skin. This design consists of a blackout cross with spiked edges that you can place on the forearm, hand or any other highly visible placement to symbolize your spirituality.
Fear God Cross Tattoo
A "Fear God" cross tattoo represents your respect for eternal judgment with bold lines, heavy shading and negative space. The rays of light and the words "Fear God" across the forearm act as a constant reminder to see the good in the world and avoid sin. Use a strong font and sharp, black ink to give your artwork a manly edge.
Artistic Sonic Cross Tattoo
Choosing a Sonic cross tattoo lets ‘90s kids blend a hit of nostalgia with their spiritual beliefs. Place Sonic at the center of the cross, and work in motion lines, spikes and a smirk to give your styling a dose of character.
Cool Cross Tattoo with Shadow Effect
Add intrigue to a cool cross tattoo by getting a shadow effect that adds instant depth and dimension to a simplistic piece. The shadowing is created using 3D shading and makes the cross appear as though it’s popping off the skin for a trendy, modern feel. This simple design maintains a clean feel.
Detailed Archangel Saint Michael Tattoo with Cross
A detailed archangel Saint Michael tattoo is all about craftsmanship, representing strength and divine protection with an epic piece of art. This piece features an imposing figure of Saint Michael perched over the forces of evil with his wings outstretched. Commission a highly skilled artist to capture this example's shadowing, light contrast and soft detail.
Classy Cross Neck Tattoo
A cross neck tattoo lets your classy side shine with its simple design and discreet placement. This cross skips solid edges and defined outlines in favor of soft, disappearing sides to create an angular, unfinished appearance with flow. Here, the missing edges add a sense of mystery to your piece, suggesting that your faith is intangible but always there.
Cross Necklace Tattoo
The cross necklace tattoo is an iconic design that typically features a beaded rosary leading to a statement cross at the center. Add heavy shading to the beads to make them realistic and turn your ink into a strong fashion statement. Adapt the length of the rosary to match your style, and consider a choker for a bolder conversation starter.
Cross with Rose Tattoo
A cross with a rose tattoo channels your faith and comments on the beauty of life. The stunning rose is the focal point, but delicately shading the petals and adding rays of light enhances the design. Ask your artist to shade the cross in grey and black to deepen the wood.
Cross, Rose and Feather Sleeve Design
A sharp sleeve tattoo involving a cross, rose and feather looks alluring and attractive, offering a profoundly symbolic design that will flatter muscular arms. The rose at the center represents your personal growth, while the feather adds freedom and lightness to the piece. Negative space and lighter, grey shading will prevent your ink from looking one-dimensional.
Chrome Cross Tattoo
This chrome cross tattoo is incredibly sleek and gives this iconic religious symbol a shiny, reflective appearance that resembles polished steel. This piece blends clean lines with three-dimensional shading to mimic the reflective quality of chrome. Add geometric patterns and crisp detailing around the edges to sharpen things up.
Cool Christian Tattoo
A cool Christian tattoo can take the form of a narrative half-sleeve that features a detailed portrait of Jesus wearing the crown of thorns. Expand on your artwork with rays of light, clouds or angels for a dynamic look that showcases your spirituality.
Powerful Religious Full Back Cross Tattoo
A religious, full back cross tattoo makes a powerful statement with its size, effortlessly combining religious symbols with words. The prominent placement allows you to include detailed shadework, wings and a phrase like "Glory of God" or "God Is Good" for a personal touch.
Full Sleeve with Cross, Dragon and Roses
A full sleeve looks badass with a cross, dragon and roses, giving masculine guys the chance to showcase their faith with a bold piece. In this example, a Japanese-inspired dragon forms the base, but you’ll want to keep the cross in focus by incorporating negative space and dark shading.
Jesus on the Cross Tattoo
A Jesus on the cross tattoo is an enduring symbol that represents strength, courage and hardship. The artist uses simple, elegant lines and delicate shading in this design to highlight Christian beliefs and evoke emotion. The discreet placement on the back allows you to conceal your piece.
Embellished Crucifix Tattoo
An embellished crucifix tattoo is a decorative version of the crucifixion scene that you can personalize with ornate details. Incorporate spiritual elements like floral patterns, gothic designs, rosary beads or even scripture verses to make your artwork unique.