Ed Sheeran’s tattoo collection is unusually easy to misread. Photographs show a large amount of colorful work, but the designs do not all have the same kind of evidence behind them. In his 2024 GQ Tattoo Tour, Sheeran explained several pieces himself. British GQ also interviewed Kevin Paul, the tattooist responsible for much of his work. Those sources make it possible to separate a confirmed story from a guess based only on a picture.

The lion chest tattoo marks Wembley

The most conspicuous piece is the large lion across Sheeran’s chest. Kevin Paul told British GQ that the design was conceived quickly and that Sheeran got it to celebrate selling out Wembley Stadium. Sheeran gave the same achievement a central place in his own account of the collection. He said that playing Wembley was the biggest achievement of his life, which explains why the tattoo is much more than a decorative animal design.

The lion also illustrates the scale of Sheeran’s later work. It dominates the centre of his chest, while the sleeves around it remain a crowded mix of smaller, often brightly colored images. The design is sometimes discussed online as if it represents a general idea of strength, but the documented explanation is more precise: it marks the Wembley milestone and the importance of English football imagery associated with the stadium.

Heinz ketchup bottle on his arm

Sheeran has a Heinz Tomato Ketchup bottle tattoo on his arm. Ogilvy, describing the Edchup campaign, explicitly calls it a picture of a Heinz ketchup bottle on his arm. Kevin Paul told British GQ that the tattoo was done in the United States because Sheeran missed ketchup while he was there. That is a very different kind of celebrity tattoo story from an invented symbolic reading. The design began as a personal joke and food preference, then became the visual basis for a real Heinz collaboration.

The partnership turned the tattoo into a piece of pop-culture branding. Heinz created limited-edition bottles resembling the tattoo, and the campaign used Sheeran’s existing ink rather than commissioning a new logo for the promotion. The bottle is therefore both a visible forearm tattoo and an example of an image crossing from a person’s collection into a commercial campaign.

The matching Pingu tattoo with Harry Styles

Sheeran’s Pingu tattoo sits on his upper left arm. Paul told British GQ that Sheeran and Harry Styles were talking about their favourite childhood cartoons after a night out, discovered they both liked Pingu and decided to get related tattoos. Sheeran’s mark is the character, while Styles had the word Pingu. In the GQ Tattoo Tour, Sheeran said Styles may have covered his version with an anchor.

The detail matters because the tattoos are often described as identical when they are better understood as a paired joke. One is a cartoon character and the other is lettering. Their connection is supported by the artist’s account and Sheeran’s later explanation, not by visual similarity alone.

Small designs tied to music and friends

Several of Sheeran’s smaller tattoos record people, songs or stages of his career. His first tattoo was a small paw print. In the GQ interview he said he had drawn the paw on himself with permanent marker for years, then got it at a shop connected with Christina Perri when he was 18. The future collaboration between the two musicians was not the original reason, but it became part of the story of the first piece.

Sheeran also showed the importance of lettering. He had Gary Lightbody write the line “Everything that happens is from now on” from Bon Iver’s “re: Stacks,” then had it tattooed in Lightbody’s handwriting. A planned matching tattoo did not happen because Lightbody changed his mind. Sheeran’s account of the piece is specific about the source of the words and the handwriting, so there is no need to attach a broader meaning to it.

The arm collection includes “Prince,” which Paul connected with Sheeran’s love of The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, and “Galway Grill,” the deliberately misspelled joke tattooed by Saoirse Ronan during the Galway Girl video period. Sheeran later confirmed in the GQ interview that the misspelling was planned. It was not an accidental mistake that he was forced to keep.

Children’s footprints on Ed Sheeran’s back

Sheeran has his children’s footprints on his back, arranged in small squares after they were born. The design is one of the clearest examples of family history in the collection because the image and the circumstances are both publicly described. It is also a reminder that the most personal tattoos are not necessarily the easiest to photograph in concert or portrait coverage.

The Matisse portrait and other personal references

Kevin Paul identified Sheeran’s mother-and-child tattoo as a copy of a Henri Matisse line drawing. He said Sheeran chose it because the painting was his mother’s favourite and that Sheeran had bought her a copy after receiving his first paycheque. The design therefore combines an identifiable artwork with a documented family reason.

Other tattoos mark albums and travel. Sheeran described a tattoo connected with Taylor Swift’s Red after appearing on the album and later joining the Red Tour. The mathematics symbols around his wrist relate to the Plus, Multiply, Divide and Subtract plan for his records, with an equals symbol added later. He also mentioned getting the Heinz design in Pittsburgh and a koala in Australia while building a sleeve around significant places he visited.

Reading the record: why the collection is difficult to count

Sheeran does not present the tattoos as a numbered catalogue. In the GQ Tattoo Tour he said he sees the collection as one tattoo and would not be able to count it. British GQ reported that he had well over 60 pieces in 2020, but that is a dated estimate rather than a permanent total. New work, cover-ups and tattoos hidden by clothing make a precise current count unreliable.

The public record is strongest for named designs and stories that Sheeran or Paul have explained: the Wembley lion, Heinz bottle, boxing gloves, Pingu, paw print, Galway Grill, Matisse portrait, children’s footprints and memorial lettering. A photograph can establish that another mark exists, but not its title, date or private meaning. Those limits are part of an accurate guide rather than a gap to fill with speculation.

Frequently asked questions

What is Ed Sheeran’s biggest tattoo?

The lion across his chest is his most prominent publicly discussed piece, and Sheeran connected it with selling out Wembley Stadium.

Who tattooed most of Ed Sheeran’s designs?

Kevin Paul has done much of Sheeran’s work, according to British GQ, but individual tattoos were also done by other people, including Saoirse Ronan’s planned Galway Grill joke.

Does Ed Sheeran have a matching tattoo with Harry Styles?

Yes. Their Pingu tattoos came from a shared conversation about the cartoon. Sheeran has the character and Styles had the word Pingu, although Styles may later have covered his.