BTS Jungkook tattoos: A complete breakdown with meanings

Jungkook recently opened up about his permanent tattoos in a live session. Scroll ahead for a breakdown of BTS Jungkook tattoos along with their significance.

Updated on Apr 14, 2023  |  05:32 PM IST |  11.9M
bts Jungkook tattoos - 7
All you need to know about Jungkook's tattoo journey; Picture Courtesy: polyc_sj Instagram

Apart from being in the limelight for being the youngest member of the boy band, BTS' Jungkook has been in the headlines for his likings for getting inked. While the BTS singer’s iconic tattoo journey began with significant but small tattoos, the artist has over fourteen tattoos that are so much more than just random stunning designs. When it comes to Jungkook tattoos, fans have always loved the tiny ones on his hands which were in fact his first few tattoos. Not too long ago, fans were delighted when Jungkook got his knuckles inked with the word “ARMY” as a tribute to their fandom's name. 

Fans already know that the K-pop star is pretty serious about his privacy but this time he surprised his fans and finally spoke about his tattoos and how each one of them holds a special importance to him. After a social media break, Jungkook finally opened up in a recent LIVE broadcast to the BTS ARMY and did a complete tattoo tour. The star was LIVE on Weverse which was followed by an Instagram LIVE along with BTS’ V.  

Scroll all the way to the end to find a video of the live session of Jungkook's tattoo tour posted by a Jungkook fan on Twitter. 

Jungkook's tattoos and their meaning  

1. ARMY tattoo

2. J tattoo

3. Purple Heart 

4. The Crown Tattoo

5. Woozy face emoticon 

6. 0613

7. The Date he came to Seoul

8. Life motto and the Nirvana song

9. Clock tattoo

10. Birth Flower - Tiger Lilly 

11. Chinese Letters: HYYH 

12. Clouds 

13. Lightning bolts

14. The eye tattoo - Covered with a BTS song

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15. Three stripes - Covered with a snake tattoo 

16. Microphone

17. Skeleton hand

18. 7 - Behind the ear

Ahead, find a complete breakdown of Jungkook's tattoos, and their importance along with real facts stating what made him get them. 

Jungkook’s first tattoo

1. ARMY tattoo

Jungkook has publicly gone ahead and shared that the ARMY tattoo was his first ever tattoo that holds a special place in his heart. It is indeed a token of gratitude for his fans. The real reason he got this tattoo on the knuckles was that he is really very proud of his ARMY and he wanted it to be in a place that is pretty visible. The Golden Maknae believes he could have chosen a better font but he couldn't have ever chosen a better first tattoo. 

Jungkook's ARMY tattoo; Picture Courtesy: BIGHIT MUSIC

Jungkook’s multiple hand tattoos

While the ARMY Jungkook tattoo pretty evidently expresses his love for his fans, Jungkook has several other interesting tattoos on his hand expressing a similar devotion to his fans and the band. 

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2. J tattoo

Jungkook has a J inked on his ring finger of the right hand which adds an adorable meaning to his famous ARMY tattoo. Without a doubt, this has to be one of the most striking Jungkook tattoos. While fans have always known “ARMY” on his knuckles has more than one meaning. Yes, one has to be the famous BTS fandom name ARMY while the other one is devoted to other BTS members. Scroll on to take inspiration from this BTS friendship tattoo.

Here’s how,

“A” which is also an inscription for an inverted V as it has no line in the middle stands for Taehyung aka V.  “RM” stands for Kim Nam Joon which is his stage name and “MY” indicates the initials of Suga’s name, Min Yoon-g. The J on his ring finger adds up to the M on his knuckle and spells JM which indicates Jimin whereas J also stands for Jungkook, Jin, as well as J-Hope. 

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3. Purple Heart 

Jungkook has a beautiful purple heart inked on his right hand. While he has expressed that the tattoo stands for “I love you,” which is just another tattoo expressing love for his fans. The singer was first seen with the tattoo on September 19, 2019. When it comes to fan speculations, they have always believed the heart symbolizes love and affection. It must be noted that a purple heart generally has a negative connotation, it usually is referred to portray an unhappy relationship, betrayal, or a fear of betrayal. 

4. The Crown Tattoo

Apart from the ARMY logo and the purple heart Junkgoog’s right hand’s index finger also has a crown tattoo. If you think about it, the tattoo is right above the A of the ARMY tattoo which only expresses his importance for the BTS fans. The crown is an indication that his ARMY and his fans are the kings. Jungkook was first seen with this tattoo on September 19, 2019, at the airport. The singer got this tattoo among others from a tattoo artist based in Geoje Island. When it comes to the general context of a crown tattoo, it is not just a pretty regal tattoo but it stands for royalty, regard and respect, and justice. 

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5. Woozy face emoticon 

Jungkook has the cutest woozy face emoticon on his middle finger which is one of his favorite tattoos. The small tattoo has usually been hard to spot but the Jungkook fans with their eagle eyes have known to spot it multiple times before Jungkook opened up about it. Fan theories suggest that the K-pop star got this tattoo for fun or perhaps there is a tattoo story Jungkook wants to keep to himself. 

6. 0613

Another iconic hand tattoo Jungkook has talked about is his 0613 tattoo. As BTS fans already know, this special tattoo is a date that represents the date of the day BTS debuted, which is June 13. If you are willing to commemorate any special date in your life, take inspiration from this Jungkook tattoo and get yourself a minimal yet meaningful tattoo that holds special importance to you. While Jungkook’s date tattoo is located under his thumb on his right hand, you can get yours at any location of your choice. 

Jungkook’s sleeve tattoos

Jungkook sleeve tattoos; Picture Courtesy: BIGHIT MUSIC

Apart from his hand, Jungkook has a number of tattoos on his forearm as well. In fact, he has been a fan of sleeve tattoos as he has several meaningful tattoos on his sleeves. Most of the tattoos hold special meanings to him that are integrated with each other. In fact, Jungkook has gotten himself a number of tattoos which he even got partially covered. 

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7. The Date he came to Seoul

Jungkook has gone ahead and publicly shared that he had the date when he came to Seoul for the very first time inked on his forearm. 

8. Life motto and the Nirvana song

The Golden Maknae also got a quote inked on his right forearm in a crisscross fashion. It is indeed one of the best Jungkook quotes tattoos. He has gone ahead and shared the lines, “Rather be dead than cool and Make hay while the sun shine" which are right of a Nirvana song Stay Away which is also his life’s motto. Take inspiration from the star and pick the lines of your favorite song that hold a special meaning for you.  

9. Clock tattoo

Jungkook also has a spectacular clock tattoo on his forearm. He has gone ahead and explained his clock tattoo indicates the time of his birth which is somewhere around 3:23 to 3:25. Another thing that makes the clock tattoo special is the musical note and the mic connected with the clock that clearly implies that he was destined to be on stage or rather he was born to be a singer. 

Jungkook Clock tattoo; Picture Courtesy: polyc_sj Instagram

10. Birth Flower - Tiger Lilly 

Jungkook has been very clever and creative when it comes to picking tattoos, another amazing tattoo certainly catches our attention has to be the tattoo of his birth flower which is the Tiger Lilly. You can definitely take inspiration from the star and get yourself inked with your birth flower. Another way he makes his birth flower tattoo even more special has to be the placement of the words “Please love me” behind it. This detailed tattoo is based on his birth flower according to his birthday which is on September 1. However, flower tattoos are generally very appealing and each of them holds a special significance. Whether it is сhamomile, rose, or sunflower, you can never go wrong with a flower or a birth flower tattoo, especially on the sleeve. 

Birth Flower - Tiger Lilly tattoo; Picture Courtesy: polyc_sj Instagram

11. Chinese Letters: HYYH 

Placed near his elbow, Jungkook has a tattoo of Chinese letters that signify the words HYYH or Hwayangyeonhwa which refers to The Most Beautiful Moment in Life in English. BTS fans already know that is the title of one of the extended plays by BTS - The Most Beautiful Moment in Life Pt. 1 and The Most Beautiful Moment in Life Pt. 2. Hwayangyeonhwa or The HYYH was certainly a turning point in the BTS career which is why it holds special importance for him. 

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Jungkook tattoos - Cover ups

Anyone who has a number of tattoos know, regret after getting permanent tattoos is real but so is the procedure of tattoo cover-up. While removal of tattoos is possible it is expensive and painful to some extent so tattoo artists have come up with a way to create cover-up tattoos that simply conceal an old tattoo with an attractive new tattoo. This is easier, cheaper, and gets you a new tattoo while hiding your old tattoo. Just like the rest of us, Jungkook wanted to get rid of some of his old tattoos, scroll ahead for Jungkook’s cover-up tattoos. 

 

12. Clouds 

Jungkook has opened up about one of his tattoos he got from an exciting-looking shop in the U.S. However, he also shared that the tattoo was not a great experience for him. Not only did it hurt a lot during the process, but he was also left with inflamed and damaged skin. He also added that since the tattoo was placed near his elbows, the area that stretches and dries up pretty soon, was a mess. Later, he got a cover-up tattoo from a different tattoo artist and got clouds instead. 

 Clouds tattoo; Picture Courtesy: polyc_sj Instagram

13. Lightning bolts

Jungkook has always had a thing for creative and spontaneous tattoos and the fact that he had the clouds tattooed across his arms made him want to add a few lightning bolts to it.  

 

14. The eye tattoo - Covered with a BTS song

Jungkook fans might remember, he used to have a beautiful eye tattooed on his forearm. However, he got rid of it and got himself a BTS Bulletproof tattoo.. Theories suggest that he decided to get rid of it because he got quite a negative response for it. Later, he opened up about it and shared that the only reason he got it covered up was that people never liked it. Later, he got it covered up with an eye-conic tattoo depicting the famous BTS song, titled “We Are Bulletproof PT. 2.” It is assumed that the huge red eye tattoo on JK’s forearm was inspired by an important woman in his life. However, generally, an eye tattoo signifies protection.

The eye tattoo - Covered with a BTS song; Picture Courtesy: polyc_sj Instagram

15. Three stripes - Covered with a snake tattoo

JK also used to have a three stripes tattoo on his forearm. Presumably, Jungkook got that tattoo as a symbol of patriotism which depicts the national flag of Korea also known as the “Taegeuk flag”. The three stripes in the flag symbolise the East, the Sky, as well as the Spring. Along with that, there are other symbols that are depictions of harmony and balance among other important depictions. While the tattoo represented devotion towards the nation, he did not receive positive feedback for it which is why he got it covered with a magnificent snake tattoo. 

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Three stripes - Covered with a snake tattoo; Picture Courtesy: polyc_sj Instagram

Other BTS Jungkook tattoos 

16. Microphone

Jungkook has been one of the most beloved Korean singers of all time and a tattoo of a microphone simply symbolizes his love and passion for music. Not too long ago, POLYC, who is a famous tattoo artist retouched JK’s microphone tattoo and shared a post on his social media. 

Microphone tattoo; Picture Courtesy: polyc_sj Instagram

17. Skeleton hand

This minimal skeleton hand tattoo doing a rock sign is another fine-line tattoo that simply represents the artist's love for rock music. Generally, skeleton-themed tattoos represent a person’s strong willpower and spontaneity. It also represents faithfulness. JK’s colorful skeleton hand tattoo was also famously retouched by POLYC. If you are looking for a minimalistic but bold tattoo, a fine-line skull hand Jungkook tattoo has to be your pick. 

Skeleton hand; Picture Courtesy: polyc_sj Instagram

18. 7 - Behind the ear tattoo

When it comes to the latest BTS Jungkook tattoos, he has recently got himself a minimal tattoo of the number “7” behind his ear. The number seven simply represents the members of the seven-member boy band - BTS. It is important to note that all the band members have a similar tattoo as a token of love for each other and the band. 

7 - Behind the ear; Picture Courtesy: polyc_sj Instagram

Here is a video of Jungkook's tattoo tour in his Weverse Live shared by a Jungkook fan on Twitter


BTS Jungkook Tattoo artist

While Jungkook has gotten a number of tattoos done over time most of the BTS Jungkook new tattoos are done and even retouched by Polyc SJ, he is one of the most renowned tattoo artists based in South Korea.

Jungkook on tattoo removal

Jungkook has always had an affinity for tattoos and he has been repeatedly questioned about his tattoos, tattoo removal, and tattoo cover-ups. In a recent live stream, he finally opened up about the issue and shared that tattoo removal is a pretty painful and a time taking process. He even mentioned his old tattoos are a part of him and he wouldn't want to deny his past versions of himself. However, he might consider tattoo removal only when it’s the only option. 

 

About Jeon Jung-kook aka Jungkook

About Jungkook; Picture Courtesy: BIGHIT MUSIC

Jeon Jung-kook aka Jungkook was born September 1, 1997. The Korean pop singer and dancer is one of the beloved members of the famous South Korean seven-member boy band called BTS or the Bangtan Boys. Apart from delivering his sweet vocals for several BTS songs, Jungkook has also received massive love for his solo tracks also released under the BTS' discography. These solo BTS songs include "Begin" which was released in 2016, "Euphoria" released in 2018, along with "My Time" which was released in 2020. In fact, his Jungkook networth 2023 will definitely manage to shock you. Apart from massive fan love, JK received a ranking on South Korea's Gaon Digital Chart as well. 

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When it comes to Jung-kook’s musical career he has also delivered musical masterpieces like the hit track titled "Stay Alive." Stay Alive was recorded for the BTS-based webtoon titled 7Fates: Chakho. Not just that, Jeon Jung-kook was also featured in Charlie Puth's single track titled "Left and Right" in 2022. The song was famously ranked 22 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100. Other achievements by the Golden Maknae include being the first ever South Korean artist to bag the opportunity to record an official track especially for the FIFA World Cup. He even performed the soundtrack titled "Dreamers" at the FIFA World Cup Opening Ceremony in 2022. Apart from these Jungkook has delivered a number of hit songs that receive a lot of love on Spotify and YouTube. Scroll ahead for a bonus list of top songs by Jungkook. 

10 Best Jung Kook Songs of All Time

Here is a perfectly curated list of the top 10 best Jungkook songs of all time


1. “Begin” (WINGS)

2. “Euphoria” (Love Yourself: Wonder)

3. “My Time” (Map of The Soul: 7)

4. “Still With You”

5. “Stay Alive”

6. “My You”

7. “Decalcomania”

8. “10000 Hours”

9. “Falling”

10. “Never Not”

 

Jungkook is not only a beloved vocalist but has also written a number of songs, famous songs where Jungkook received writing and production credits include, 

  • "We Are Bulletproof Pt. 2", "No More Dream" and "Outro: Circle Room Cypher" for the album 2 Cool 4 Skool in 2013
  • "Outro: Love Is Not Over" for The Most Beautiful Moment in Life, Pt. 1 in 2015
  • "Run" for The Most Beautiful Moment in Life, Pt. 2 in 2015
  • "Dead Leaves", "Run", "Love Is Not Over", and "Run" for The Most Beautiful Moment in Life: Young Forever in 2016. 
  • "Introduction: Youth" for Youth in 2016
  • "Magic Shop" for Love Yourself: Tear in 2018
  • "My Time" for Map of the Soul: 7 in 2020
  • A non-album release in 2020 titled "Still With You"
  • "Your Eyes Tell" and "Outro: The Journey" for Proof in 2021
  • Another non-album release in 2022 titled “My You”
  • The Official Soundtrack for the FIFA World Cup titled “Dreamers” in 2022


When it comes to Jungkook tattoos, it must be noted that tattoos are not widely accepted in South Korea. In fact, musical artists usually avoid showing their tattoos on the screen or in public due to certain restrictions. People usually go for measures like makeup to cover up the tattoos but for some reason they cannot, their tattoos are blurred with edits in the post-production process. In fact, tattoos are banned in the country and only medical professionals are allowed to perform the procedure.

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ALSO READ: BTS’ Jimin net worth 2023, Career, BTS Journey and top songs

FAQs

How many tattoos does Jungkook have?
The cover-up tattoos and integrated tattoo designs make it hard to put a number but fan theories reveal Jungkook has around 18 tattoos.

Does Jungkook really have tattoos?
Yes, Jungkook has around 18 tattoos, and each of them holds a special meaning for him.

What do Jungkook tattoos mean?
Whether it is the ARMY tattoo for the BTS fandom and members, the purple heart tattoo that says I love you or the “7” tattoo depicting the seven members behind the ear, every tattoo holds a special significance for Jungkook.

What was Jungkook's first tattoo?
The ARMY tattoo was his first ever tattoo that holds a special place in his heart. It is indeed a token of gratitude for his fans. The real reason he got this tattoo on the knuckles was that he is really very proud of his ARMY and he wanted it to be in a place that is pretty visible.

Did Jungkook remove any of his tattoos?
While Jungkook has gotten a number of tattoos covered up with new tattoos, he has not removed any of the tattoos.

Are Jungkook's tattoos permanent?
Yes, Jungkook has around 18 tattoos, and each of them is permanent.

Credits: Image credits: polyc_sj Instagram, Pinkvilla, News1, BIGHIT MUSIC, Twitter / jk vids (slow) @jjklve
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‘A postgraduate in Mass Communication, Ayushi enjoys writing about fashion, skincare, and lifestyle. She's been writing professionally

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