Rumer Willis has had more than 20 tattoos, from tiny marks on her fingers to a lion on her shoulder. The pieces include a Carl Sagan quote, a family nickname, and a Dancing With the Stars design she later chose to remove. Some are easy to connect to people in her life; others are small symbols whose meaning she has kept to herself.
Her tattoos have changed over time, so the record is a mix of work she still wears and designs that are gone or made to fade. The photos and interviews give a fairly detailed view of what has been reported, though they do not explain every mark. Taken together, the pieces move between short phrases, family references, portraits and simple shapes.
Words, symbols and the tattoos people notice first
One of Willis’s most direct tattoos is the lowercase phrase “be present” on her side. It sits beneath clothing most of the time and reads like a private reminder rather than a statement meant for an audience.
Her fingers have several small designs dating to around 2009: a cross on her ring finger, a black skull on her pointer finger, and a black star near her thumb. They are easy to overlook in wider photos, but the cross and skull show up when her hands are visible.
On her foot, the words “who are you?” are written in small lettering. There is also script on her inner hip, but available coverage has not clearly identified the words. It is better to leave that one unread than guess from a blurry image.
Three black dots sit on her wrist. Their placement is visible, but Willis has not publicly explained what they mean. Sometimes the record only tells us what a tattoo looks like.
Rumer Willis’s literary script and back pieces
The longest text is on her inner left forearm: “For small creatures such as we the vastness is bearable only through love,” a line by Carl Sagan. The quote takes up more room than the short phrases on her foot and hand, and it reads as a full passage rather than a quick symbol.
In photos, the lettering can look like a dark block before the words come into focus. Once readable, it brings a thought about love and scale into a collection otherwise filled with small images and short reminders.
A bird sits high on Willis’s right shoulder, a piece dated to around 2013. It can disappear beneath a strap or sleeve. It is separate from the larger shoulder work that came later, rather than part of one combined bird-and-lion design.
Photos can make it hard to count or distinguish the pieces. One outfit may show the bird, a wrist tattoo and a forearm portrait, while hiding ink on her side, foot or hip. Her designs are spread across different parts of her body, not arranged as a single sleeve.
Family ink, portraits and the larger shoulder work
The lion’s head on her shoulder is among the largest and most visible designs. Its dark mane gives it a stronger presence than the small marks on her hands, especially in sleeveless photos.
Willis has “Sauce” on the side of her hand. She got the word in 2014 for her younger sister, who uses it as a nickname. The lettering is exposed enough to be seen quickly, and its reason is one of the clearest family stories attached to any of her tattoos.
Peacock feathers have also been reported on her shoulder. On the backs of both arms are geometric designs built around a diamond with an arrow inside. Those shapes sit apart from the portraits and script, giving the collection a more graphic look.
Her right wrist has the phases of the moon and the Leo zodiac sign. Other reported pieces include a grayscale portrait of a nude figure on her inner right forearm and a black shape above her elbow that looks like a horseshoe.
In 2016, celebrity tattoo artist Dr. Woo made a portrait of Picasso on her upper right arm. It is another kind of reference from the family nickname or the lion: a portrait of an artist among symbols, words and personal reminders.
The Dancing With the Stars tattoo and why it changed
After winning Dancing With the Stars in 2015, Willis got a bicep design showing two dancers with a mystical, star-like figure. Later reports said she had it removed with a laser after her relationship with show veteran Val Chmerkovskiy ended. The tattoo marked a real moment in her life, even though she eventually no longer wanted it.
In 2022, Willis also got made-to-fade tattoos from New York artist JonBoy: a tiny bee above her right knee and a sparkle on her right ring finger. They were described as ephemeral tattoos, expected to last about nine to 15 months. They offered a way to wear a design for a while without keeping it permanently.
What the collection says without overexplaining it
There is no single style running through Willis’s tattoos. Fine script sits beside small black symbols, portraits, geometric arm designs, a lion, moon phases and a family nickname. Some pieces have a public explanation; the three dots and hip script, for example, do not. Leaving those gaps open is part of an accurate account of the collection.
The timeline matters as much as the designs. Early hand and wrist marks sit alongside the Carl Sagan quote, Picasso portrait and Dancing With the Stars tattoo. Some pieces were removed; others were made to fade. The collection includes what stayed and what she later chose to change.
Reported designs include “be present” on her side; the cross, skull and star on her fingers; “who are you?” on her foot; the unidentified hip script; three wrist dots; the bird on her back; the Sagan quote; “Sauce”; peacock feathers; the Dancing With the Stars dancers; the Picasso portrait; the lion; geometric diamonds and arrows; moon phases and the Leo symbol; a grayscale forearm portrait; the horseshoe; and the temporary bee and sparkle tattoos.
Watch Rumer Willis talk about tattoo removal
The clip below focuses on Willis removing the Dancing With the Stars tattoo, adding context to one design that is no longer part of her collection.
That history makes her tattoos read less like a fixed catalogue and more like a record of choices. Some are still visible, some have faded or been removed, and others were never explained publicly. The collection has room to change as her life does.
In short: Willis’s ink ranges from family references and small symbols to a lion, portraits and a long Sagan quote. Some pieces are still there; others were temporary or removed. The record tells a fuller story when it includes those changes.