The semicolon symbolizes a continuation of someone’s life.
It has become a modern symbol used in solidarity with other survivors against a plethora of mental health issues including suicide, eating disorders and addictive behaviors.
How has it started?
Back in April 2013, when social media just started making its global waves in culture and helping create awareness for different causes, Amy Bleuel asked that anyone who had ever struggled with a mental illness would draw a semicolon on their wrist and post a photo.
“A semicolon is used when an author could’ve chosen to end their sentence, but chose not to. The author is you and the sentence is your life,” – Amy Bleuel
In the mainstream media, the semicolon tattoo also makes its appearance in the TV show 13 Reasons Why, marking a new beginning after struggling with suicidal ideation.
There are also celebrities with a semicolon tattoo like Selena Gomez who has long been an ambassador of mental health and has opened up many times about their struggles with depression. Among others we can also count Alisha Boe, Tommy Dorfman, and Brandon Flynn, too.
Combining meanings
If you want the semicolon to be the added meaning to your tattoo, you can combine it with many other animals, objects or mythologies.
Some of them are:
Overall, the semicolon is a tiny (sometimes even hidden) symbol that adds a lot of meaning that can be added to any tattoo for women and tattoo for men.
