Hold fast
The words HOLD and FAST tattooed one letter to a knuckle across both hands. Sailors believed it gave them a firm grip on the rigging.
Meaning
The Naval History and Heritage Command describes “Hold Fast” as tattooed across the knuckles of both hands, “originally thought to give a seaman a firm grip on a ship’s rigging”. Royal Museums Greenwich gives the same account: “hold” on the knuckles of one hand and “fast” on the other were said to let the wearer grip the rigging better.
Origin and history
The letters face outward. The Navy’s primer says knuckle tattoos were placed so that the words read from left to right to someone standing opposite. It names a second phrase that sailors put on their knuckles the same way: “Shipmate”.
Charms against the sea
Hold fast belongs with the sailor’s other protective tattoos: the Pig and rooster on the feet against drowning, and the Nautical star to find the way home.
Read next
- Next in Traditional tattoo motifsPig and roosterA pig tattooed on one foot and a rooster on the other: a sailors’ charm against drowning.
- The same shape in Tarot cardsFive of SwordsThe five of swords in the tarot's Minor Arcana: a disdainful man gathering swords as two defeated figures walk away. A. E. Waite read it as degradation, destruction and loss.
See also
Swallow, Anchor, Full-rigged ship, Shellback turtle, Dragon, Nautical star.
Sources
- Sailors’ Tattoos: A Basic Primer, Heritage: customs and traditions, published 4 December 2024 (Internet Archive copy, 29 January 2026), Naval History and Heritage Command (U.S. Navy), Some Traditional Sailors’ Tattoos: “Hold Fast” or “Shipmate”
- Fascinating facts about tattoos, Stories: topics, Royal Museums Greenwich (National Maritime Museum), 10 interesting facts about tattoos
The same shape elsewhere
Browse symbols formed from letters and numbers or squares and rectangles.
Researched, edited and approved by Rory Hansen before publishing. Last reviewed October 9, 2026. How we research
Added .