Your Guide to Avril Lavigne’s 25+ Tattoos and Their Meanings

Getty | Lester Cohen

While fashion and beauty trends have been seeing a massive Y2K comeback this year, the rock-pop genre reminiscent of the early aughts also made a big return to the mainstream music scene. And when it comes to the metallic, grunge vibes, who can forget Avril Lavigne‘s unrivaled contribution to the nostalgia-inducing pop-punk hits of the 2000s? The singer-songwriter first burst onto the music scene two decades ago with her her 2002 record “Let Go,” which spawned multiple “Sk8er Boi” style moments and smudged, “Tumblr” makeup trends worldwide as a result. However, Lavigne isn’t just known for creating angsty, unforgettable hits; she also has upward of 25 tattoos scattered across her body that fit in perfectly with her overall punk-pop aesthetic.

The singer got her first tattoo in 2004 and has since accumulated quite the collection over the years, including an impressive half-sleeve. While Lavigne sometimes got impulsive designs on a whim, she also has a handful of tattoos that are meaningful to her. From numerals and text pieces to star designs and a beautiful French quotation — Lavigne’s tattoos are just as cool as her sense of style. But among the exceptional collection is a trio inked in three different places that scream her love for her favorite curse word: “F*ck.” “It’s my favorite word,” she told Inked Magazine, adding, “Why the f*ck not?”

Scroll through the gallery ahead as we break down all of Lavigne’s known tattoos over the years, along with the inspiration behind the designs.

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Avril Lavigne’s Star Wrist Tattoo

Though Lavigne has several star designs (more on those later), the one star placed on the inside of her left wrist holds a special meaning for the pop star. The star featured prominently on her debut album’s breakout single “Sk8er Boi”‘s music video. In fact, this was the first ever tattoo Lavigne ever got. While working on her sophomore album, “Under My Skin,” the singer-songwriter was struck with an idea to get the star tattooed on her wrist along with her collaborator, Ben Moody, Evanescence guitarist with whom she co-wrote the song “Nobody’s Home.”

While she decided to get a tattoo on a whim, she did sound her brother out about it beforehand. “Part of me was like, ‘Wait, should I be doing this?'” she told Inked Magazine. “So I called my older brother to make sure I had his blessing. I was like, ‘I’m going to get a tattoo; is that OK?’ He said it was OK. It’s the ‘Sk8er Boi’ star. It means a lot to me.”

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Avril Lavigne’s “Abbey Dawn” Tattoo

Lavigne has the name “Abbey Dawn” inked on the inside of her left elbow, which is an ode to her childhood nickname that her father gave her. The musician also has a clothing line under the same name that she founded in 2008.

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Avril Lavigne’s Safety Pin Tattoo

On her neck, below her left ear, Lavigne has a dainty safety pin design. The “Girlfriend” singer got the tattoo in 2011, and after getting it inked, she posted a tweet that seemed to hint at the poignant meaning behind the safety pin artwork. “It comes in handy all the time, it can hurt you, but at the same time keep you together, safety first!” she wrote in a March 2011 tweet.

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Avril Lavigne’s “XXV” Tattoo

For her 25th birthday, Lavigne got “XXV” tattooed on the inside of her right elbow, which stands for 25 in Roman numeral. However, the “Complicated” singer wasn’t alone in commemorating her milestone birthday. Her then-boyfriend, Brody Jenner, also got a matching tattoo in the exact location.

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Avril Lavigne’s Heart Tattoo

Lavigne has a sweet tattoo in her massive collection that signifies her love for Whibley, the Sum 41 frontman, with whom she was married for four years. On her right wrist, enclosed inside a pink outlined heart, is the initial of Whimbley’s first name, “D,” which she got in black ink. He also has a similar design, where he has a heart surrounding the letter “A.”

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Getty | Larry Marano

Avril Lavigne’s “FUCK” Ribcage Tattoo

In May 2010, Lavigne and Jenner got another double ink during their relationship. The now-ex pair got the word “F*CK” imprinted on their left ribcage in block letters.

Avril Lavigne’s “Brody” Tattoo

Lavigne and Jenner took their relationship and tattoo game to a whole new level when they got each other’s names imprinted on their skin in 2010. While “The Hills” reality star got “Avril” inked on his elbow, with a star drawn above the “i” letter, Lavigne got “Brody” in cursive letters on the upper right side of her ribcage.

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Avril Lavigne’s “F*ck You” Tattoo

Perfectly encapsulating her no sh*ts given, carefree energy is the design “F*ck You” that aptly sits along the side of her right middle finger. You can only see the design slightly when she’s holding a mic, so it’s relatively hidden.

Avril Lavigne’s “Motherf*cking Princess” Tattoo

Lavigne also got one of her lyrics from pop hits “Rock N Roll” and “Girlfriend,” “Motherf*cking Princess,” inked on the inside of her pinky finger. After all, it’s not her favorite word for nothing. In a sit-down conversation with Inked Magazine, the “Head Above Water” singer opened up about the initial design idea she had in her mind for this iconic tattoo. “It was going to be ‘Motherfucking’ (on one finger) and then ‘Princess’ (on the other),” she shared. “Then we stenciled on ‘Motherfucking,’ and I was like, ‘Oh my god, I don’t want to write on this finger cause it’s my ring finger. What do we do? Oh, shit, just put a crown.'” However, due to its placement location, the text is hard to spot in pictures.

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Getty | Ethan Miller

Avril Lavigne’s Note Wrist Tattoo

Lavigne got a musical note on the side of her right wrist, which likely denotes her love for music.

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Avril Lavigne’s “La vie en Rose” Tattoo

Her longest quote tattoo to date includes the French phrase that says “La vie en Rose” in cursive handwriting, with the smaller font quote “Vivre le moment présent” placed right below the former on her left forearm. The design goes horizontally along the side of her ulna bone. The quote translates to “Life is Pink” and “Living in the moment,” respectively. Lavigne got this as a matching tattoo with her then-fiancé (now ex-husband) Chad Kroeger, the lead vocalist of the rock band Nickelback, in 2013, who has the French script “Vivre le moment présent” inked in the same place as Lavigne. The meaning behind the tattoo might be a reminder to live life to the fullest.

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Avril Lavigne’s “30” Tattoo

To mark her first husband Deryck Whibley’s 30th birthday, Lavigne and Whibley both got the number “30” tattooed on their left wrists in March 2010. While the former couple had already filed for divorce in Oct 2009, the duo seemingly remained amicable and got the matching tattoos despite the separation.

Avril Lavigne’s Lightning Bolt Tattoo

Lavigne added a lightning bolt artwork to her growing tattoo collection in April 2010, which she got with “The Hills” alum Jenner, her boyfriend at the time. The thunderbolt ink sits right below the singer’s “30” tattoo on her left wrist, while Jenner’s is placed behind his ear. Though the “Love Sux” singer never publicly explained the meaning behind the tattoo, a lighting bolt symbolizes strength, creativity, and enlightenment.

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Avril Lavigne’s Star Tattoo on Her Calf

On the side of her left calf, Lavigne has a tiny blue-colored star that is outlined in black ink. She got it with her music collaborator Butch Walker.

Avril Lavigne’s Remaining Star Tattoos

Lavigne has a black-colored filled-out star on the outside of her right forearm. Then, on the outside of her right arm, she has another blink-and-you’ll-miss-it tiny red-colored star. On the lower left side of her torso, she also has six outlined stars; two are medium-size, while the rest dwindle in size as they move down toward her thigh.

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Getty | Chelsea Lauren

Avril Lavigne’s Skull and Cross Bones Tattoo

Right below her “Abbey Dawn” design, Lavigne got a skull and cross bones set on her left arm in 2012. However, she later covered this up by adding another design over it.

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Avril Lavigne’s Cupcake and Hello Kitty Tattoos

Formerly a skull and crossbones, Lavigne turned the tattoo into a colorful cupcake artwork on her left arm. Though the prior ink is still visible, the singer added a whole host of whimsical details around the design to make it pop out. There are pink, yellow, and green-colored stars, sprinklers around, and a red cherry atop the cupcake. There is also a Hello Kitty bow among the smattering of minuscule designs surrounding the cupcake, which is likely a nod to her 2013 song “Hello Kitty.” They are now a part of her sweeping half-sleeve that stretches across her left forearm.

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Avril Lavigne’s Astronomical Sign Tattoos

In 2017, the “Wish You Were Here” singer got a trio of astrological signs inked on her right forearm that together represent Lavigne’s birth chart. Starting from her wrist down, Lavigne has the astrological symbol of her zodiac sign, Libra, the air alchemy sign (the element associated with Libra), and the planetary symbol of Venus (Libra’s ruling planet), all aligned in a straight horizontal line. Bookending the three symbols are double chevron signs.

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Getty | Lester Cohen

Avril Lavigne’s Half-Sleeve On Her Left Arm

The lower left arm of Lavigne showcases a beautifully intricate and elaborate half-sleeve, which carefully ties together an assortment of tiny and large pieces she’s accumulated over the years. “All of my tattoos for a good 15 years were just random,” she explained about her half-sleeve in an interview with Inked Magazine. “I was probably super drunk, and I was like, ‘Let’s do this!’ I never really thought them out. Then a couple of years ago, I sat down with London Reese, who is now the tattoo artist I have come to my house instead of going to some random tattoo store. I was like, ‘Hey, I’ve got all these tattoos that go just about everywhere, can we bring them all together and sort of make it look like a half-sleeve?'”

Among the plethora of designs is a switchblade knife inked across the length of her forearm, which most likely symbolizes her strength amid her two-year-long frightening battle with Lyme disease, with which she was diagnosed in 2014. On the top corner of the knife sits a gothic cross symbol on her wrist, which she got in 2017. There’s also a heart piece filled with red ink that says “MOM” on a patch over it near her wrist. It is a sweet tattoo that honors her mother who she’s extremely close. To bring together her existing designs, Lavigne got done a music-themed half-sleeve. To deftly fill up the empty spaces on her sleeve, she added a microphone, several musical notes, and a large rose on the outside of her forearm that starts right below her elbow and extends up to her wrist.