Angelina Jolie Debuts New Chest Tattoo at 2024 Tonys: Inside The Sweet Meaning

Angelina Jolie is no stranger to permanent ink but the actress debuted a new tattoo in the center of her chest while attending the 2024 Tony Awards. Fans are curious about the meaning behind the tattoo, especially since the California native chose such a prominent place on her body to display the new design.

What Is Angelina Jolie’s Tattoo She Debuted at 2024 Tony Awards?

The Mr. and Mrs. Smith actress showed off her new tattoo for the first time on the red carpet for the 2024 Tony Awards while representing her Broadway show, The Outsiders, in June. The actress stunned in an elegant Atelier Versace gown, but fans were more interested in her new ink.

The tattoo, a black outline of a swallow, is said to symbolize loyalty and homecoming, reflecting the bird’s migration patterns that always lead them back to the same place. The tattoo is about the size of a strawberry and was perfectly placed in the center of her breastbone. Mark Mahoney, founder of Shamrock Social Club, was the tattoo artist behind the swallow.

“Legend has it that tattoos began when seven sailors from a ship called the Swallow each tattooed a swallow on his chest to mark their mutiny,” according to an article on the U.S. Naval Institute’s website. “Swallows often were the first birds sailors would see when nearing land, and they came [to] represent homecoming.”

Prior to the swallow tattoo, Angelina debuted another most recent tattoo at the April 2024 premiere of The Outsiders, which she coproduced with her daughter Vivienne. Angelina got the “Stay Gold” ink alongside other cast and crew members who posted photos with their tattoos.

What Is the Meaning Behind Angelina Jolie’s New Swallow Tattoo?

While Angelina has yet to reveal the significance behind the new ink, fans took to Twitter to share their theories.

One user believed it was a matching tattoo with her 18-year-old daughter, Shiloh. The teen — who recently filed to have “Pitt” dropped from her last name — allegedly has the same swallow tattoo as her mother on her forearm, according to side-by-side photos shared on the platform.

What Has Angelina Jolie Said About Her Tattoos?

Despite being one of the biggest stars in Hollywood, Angelina has a variety of different tattoos all over her body and isn’t afraid of expressing herself.

“They’re body art,” the Maleficent actress said in an interview with Australian magazine Post-Modern Ink back in 2010. “I don’t think it’s abnormal that someone who spends their life in other skins wants to claim their own by marking things on it that matter to them.”