Summary

  • Tommy Shelby's tattoos hold deep meanings, including his sun rays chest tattoo.
  • The chest ink symbolizes Tommy's dual nature of love and ruthlessness.
  • Other tattoos, like "Forrard" and TGC, reflect Tommy's past and losses.

In Peaky Blinders, each of Tommy Shelby's tattoos has a special meaning, including the one on his chest which resembles sun rays. Tommy had many tattoos on his body, each of which holds a range of important meanings, and the meaning of the chest ink may extend beyond what the design is based on. In the popular series, Tommy Shelby leads the Peaky Blinders - a powerful Birmingham-based gang - following World War I. Tommy jump-starts the business out of a desire to move his family up in the world, so they will always be able to defend themselves and become untouchable.

Throughout Peaky Blinders, Tommy Shelby is shown to be an independent, stoic, and ruthless boss. However, audiences are also presented with the other, easier-to-empathize-with side of the character, which commonly emerges in the relationships he shares with his romantic interests, namely Grace Shelby (Annabelle Wallis). Grace proves his heart is as vast as his merciless nature. It is this dual nature - the loving and caring side of Tommy Shelby and the ruthless gangster who will kill anyone who gets in his way - that the tattoos on his chest represent.

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What Is Tommy Shelby's Chest Tattoo?

It Is Inspired By A Famous Real Tattoo Of Jesus

Tommy Shelby's chest tattoo from Peaky Blinders.

The Tommy Shelby tattoos on his chest with the sun rays in an array over his left breast are inspired by a real-life tattoo that usually has Jesus in the middle of the rays. Jesus is left out of Shelby’s Peaky Blinders tattoo, which is a choice that speaks to Tommy’s views on religion and faith, as well as potentially alluding to his life of crime. The dual sides of Tommy Shelby are expressed through his chest tattoo. Tommy is a good person but he is also a bad man, and leaving Jesus out of the tattoo plays into that.

Tommy's idea of being born free and going out the same way plays into his character's journey throughout Peaky Blinders.

The design is also thought by some to be similar to that of the Roma wheel, which can be seen to represent Tommy's Romani heritage and his desire to live a free life. If this is what it represents, it also shows Tommy's belief that he will die free and not beholden to anyone or anything. This is just as likely an explanation as Tommy Shelby has codes that he lives by and Tommy's idea of being born free and going out the same way plays into his character's journey throughout Peaky Blinders.

How Tommy's Tattoo Is Linked To His Relationships

It Shows How He Might Only Be Loyal To Himself & His Family

The Tommy Shelby tattoos on his chest hold meaning that may explain why Tommy Shelby’s Peaky Blinders relationships end poorly. Holding his freedom closest to his heart in the form of a permanent tattoo implies he will not be bound by anything, even marriage and love. The overarching meaning of it clashes with his marriage to Lizzy, to whom he is tethered against his wishes. However, Tommy also showcases his freedom from his wife by informing her he does not intend to remain loyal to her, only that he will remain as such under the roof of the same house.

Tommy’s chest tattoo represents the loyalty he harbors to himself and the life he chooses to lead. It also serves as a reminder of the aspects of his life he holds closest to his heart. Thomas Shelby has always held to these beliefs – potentially, in part, because his chest tattoo has always been there to remind him. He knows that he lives in two worlds and he also knows that if he ever finds true love, he will inevitably pull them into the bad, and that is not something he might be willing to chance.

What Tommy's Other Tattoos Mean

Tommy Shelby (Cillian Murphy) on the street turning to his left in Peaky Blinders

Tommy Shelby's Tattoos on Peaky Blinders

The Sunrays Tattoo

Chest

Military Tattoo That Says 'Forrard'

Right Bicep

A Rose & A Horseshoe

Left Bicep

T G C

Left Inner Bicep

The tattoos on his chest aren't the only Peaky Blinders tattoos that Tommy Shelby sports, either. He has three others, and each comes with its own unique meaning. On his right bicep, there's a star with the word "Forrard" which references his service during World War I ("Forrard" being an interpretation of the command "Forward"). Tommy's left bicep tattoo of a rose and a horseshoe is explained on the show itself as it commemorates his win in the betting license battle. Tommy got this tattoo in the first season of the show.

The initials TGC on his right arm stand for Tommy, Grace, and Charlie: himself, his first wife, and his son, respectively.

Finally, the initials TGC on his right arm stand for Tommy, Grace, and Charlie: himself, his first wife, and his son. This last one is particularly poignant since Grace's death in Peaky Blinders season 3 and is one more way in which Tommy's body underscores how he now cares for nothing but his cause. It also reminds him of what he lost, which fuels him to win at all costs. While tattoos are often used to cultivate a particular aesthetic for a character, they almost always carry significance as well, and this is certainly the case in Peaky Blinders.