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Known as Dionysus to the Greeks and Bacchus to the Romans, the god of wine may have even deeper roots in earlier nature religions. He often took on a bestial shape but in early art he was mainly represented as a bearded man. His personal attributes were an ivy wreath and a large two-handled goblet. Unlike the other gods, to his believers Bacchus existed not only outside them but also within. They believed that under the influence of wine, one could feel possessed by a greater power and perform great feats. Although classical imagery is not particularly widespread in baccmus tattoo design, it is certainly done, as in the case of Bacchus.

In the West, with only a couple of exceptions, the badger is predominantly associated with aggression and hostility (as in someone being badgered, for example). For the Japanese, though, the potbellied badger is a symbol of cunning more like the West's fox, but with the added meanings of prosperity and self-satisfaction.

The bagpipe is a wind instrument with at least two pipes that are blown using a bladder (traditionally of animal skin) full of air that is pumped under the arm. Melodies and accompaniment, often described as droning, are played via finger holes on the pipes. There is some evidence that these instruments were known in parts of the world as early as 100 B.C.E.
They have been used from Britain to Russia, throughout the Aegean, and even into North Africa and the Arabian Peninsula. Today the pipes are associated primarily with the country of Scotland and are often depicted with a tartan plaid textile bag. However, in Scotland it is not used only as a musical form of entertainment. In the Highlands, bagpipes also accompanied the drum in military use on the battlefield from the eighteenth century. Even today, Scottish military regiments will parade with the bagpipe playing. Although a tattoo of a bagpipe might be the choice of people who can play the instrument, it is also a more general symbol of Scotland as the HARP is for Ireland.

The ball, drawn in two dimensions or three, had symbolic significance in many older civilizations and was associated with the sun or movement through the heavens. Games with balls are depicted in ancient Mexican art and mentioned in Homer's Odyssey. Even in the Christian church in France (before 1538) clerics danced around the monastery, throwing a ball back and forth, to the sound of music. As with other basic symbols in tattoo art, the ball more often occurs in specific contexts some having to do with sports, some with representations of planets and the EARTH.

Balloons in tattoo art can be associated with celebration, or used as markers of an occasion and even as memorials, much as in Western culture in general. They suggest joyfulness in their varied color and something ethereal in their buoyancy and ability to float. Of relatively modern origin, they are nevertheless connected to older symbols that depict the ability to soar and escape earthly boundaries.

A plant prevalent in the Orient, bamboo plays an important role in art and symbolism there. A bamboo branch is the attribute of the gentle KANNON, Buddhist goddess of mercy. In Japan it symbolizes youth and strength and it is in Japanese tattoo that it appears most frequently. It is incomparably straight, rising to the sky, with evenly spaced knots, and is also incredibly strong for its weight. Along with the plum and the pine, bamboo is one of the three trees of good omen.