What do Angelina Jolie's tattoos really mean? The sentimental reasons behind the star's unique body art

Angelina Jolie's tattoos have been on display recently as she's hit the red carpet with her children. 

Often wearing glamourous dresses that show off her body art in all its glory, we started to wonder if the intricate tattoos had hidden or sentimental reasons behind them. 

Angelina's never been one to blend into a crowd, so it makes sense that as well as having a unique fashion sense she also has a number of intricate tattoos all over her body. But what's the significance of some of her larger tattoos and do they relate to her children?

Here's a closer look at the star's tattoos and the meaning behind some of her larger pieces of body art...

On her back, Angelina has several tattoos that all connect together to make a beautifully symmetrical piece of body art. In 2004, the actress had 'know your rights' tattooed in English on her back. This is reportedly a link to Angelina's favorite band The Clash.

To the left of this tattoo, she has a Khmer script on her left shoulder that was tattooed in 2002 and covered the Japanese symbol for death that was originally there.

The Khmer script is the official language of Cambodia, which is the location where her first son Maddox was born. 

When translated to English, the tattoo reads, "May your enemies run far away from you. If you acquire riches, may they remain yours always. Your beauty will be that of Aspara. Wherever you may go, many will attend, serve and protect you, surrounding you on all sides."

On her right shoulder, Angelina has a ‘Yant Kraw Petch' tattoo which was tattooed by a Thai monk named Ajarn Noo Kanpai. The tattoo is supposed to ward off evil spirits and bring protection and good luck.

In the center of her back, Angelina has the phrase ‘Yant ViHan Pha Chad Sada’—also tattooed by the same monk. 

Reportedly the ink used for this design was also used in a tattoo for Brad Pitt. This was to symbolically link the couple while they were married before their separation in September 2016.

Angelina Jolie once had a dragon tattoo on her arm that was accompanied with the name 'Billy Bob' above it. This was the name of her ex-husband and Angelina subsequently removed this tattoo in favor of a geographical tattoo that is linked to her children.

The birth co-ordinates of Angelina's six children now take up this spot on her arm. Eagle-eyed fans noticed that there are actually seven coordinates on her arm and some believe that the last set of coordinates belongs to her ex-husband and father of her children, Brad Pitt. 

This final co-ordinate was added in 2011.

Bizarrely, the actress also has a tattoo that is linked to Winston Churchill. In roman numerals on her forearm, Angelina Jolie has the numbers XIII V MCMXL which translates to the numbers 13/5/1940.

Reportedly the tattoo is linked to the famous speech given by Churchill when he said, "I have nothing to offer but blood, toil, tears and sweat," on May 13, 1940.

Angelina Jolie also had a cross tattoo as another cover-up on her body. Reportedly, the star got a large cross tattoo on her inner hip to hide a dragon with a blue tongue that she got in Amsterdam. She also allegedly got this tattoo in 1995 the day before she married Johnny Lee Miller.

Next to the cross tattoo is the Latin phrase, 'Quod me nutrut me destruit.' This translates to, "what nourishes me, destroys me."

Angelina Jolie's tattoos have changed over the years and as she's covered some up she's also added smaller tattoos across her body. She's also had some of her ink removed, so it's unclear whether some of her larger body tattoos that haven't been seen in public for decades still reamin.