The bird of paradise: the most-asked tattoo of the island

A flower that looks like a bird

Orange petals like a crest, a blue tongue, a long green beak: the strelitzia looks like a bird about to take off. That is why the English call it the bird of paradise. It is not native to Madeira: it came from South Africa and was named after Queen Charlotte, of the house of Mecklenburg-Strelitz. But the mild island climate suited it so well that today it grows in gardens, on roundabouts and on the edges of the levadas, and it became the flower people think of when they think of Madeira.

Why visitors want it on their skin

Many visitors take a strelitzia home in a box from the Mercado dos Lavradores or the airport. It lasts a few weeks in a vase. The tattoo is the version that stays. It is also a design that works almost anywhere: the long stem follows the line of a forearm, an ankle or a rib, and the flower can be as small as a fingertip or as big as a sleeve.

1. Fine line: just the drawing

Thin black lines, no colour, the leaves following the arm. It is discreet, elegant and quick to make, which makes it a good choice for a first tattoo or a short stay.

2. In colour: orange, blue and the name of the island

The real colours of the flower are hard to beat. Some visitors add a word, a date or the name of the island written into the stem, so the piece tells exactly where it came from.

3. In black, with shading and leaves

Solid black leaves and soft shading give the flower weight without colour. It ages well and sits nicely next to other tattoos you already have.

Make it yoursEvery strelitzia we tattoo is drawn for the person who wears it: the size, the angle of the flower and what goes with it (a sun, a date, the outline of the island). Send us a photo of the spot and your idea on WhatsApp and the artist will draw it before you come in.