Breaking Down the Symbolism of My Virginia Beach Mural
One of my favorite things about creating art is hiding layers of meaning in plain sight.
Some of the symbols in this mural were chosen because they represent Virginia Beach. Others carry personal significance. The primary goal was simply to tell a story about the city. That said, as someone who spends a lot of time studying folklore, mythology, and spiritual traditions, I can't help but notice additional layers of symbolism hiding beneath the surface. Whether you view them through a historical, artistic, or magical lens, each symbol has a story to tell.
You don't need to know any of that to enjoy the mural.
But if you're curious, here's what's hidden inside.
Virginia Beach Side
Virginia Beach Lettering
Mundane Meaning:
The words "Virginia Beach" are painted in gothic lettering and positioned to face one of the busiest pedestrian routes near the Convention Center. I intentionally designed this side to be a photo opportunity and landmark.
Magical Meaning:
Names hold power. Naming a place is a way of honoring it. In many magical traditions, names are tied to identity, memory, and spirit.
Anchor
Mundane Meaning:
Virginia Beach has deep ties to maritime culture, the Navy, commercial shipping, and life on the water.
Magical Meaning:
Anchors symbolize stability, grounding, resilience, and staying steady during difficult times. In magical practice, they often represent remaining rooted while navigating uncertainty.
Strawberry
Mundane Meaning:
The strawberry is a nod to Pungo and Virginia Beach's agricultural roots. While many visitors associate Virginia Beach with the Oceanfront, the city also has a long farming history. For decades, the annual Pungo Strawberry Festival celebrated that heritage, and today its successor, Strawberry Fest at the Beach, continues the tradition. Including a strawberry felt like a way to acknowledge a side of Virginia Beach that often gets overlooked.
Magical Meaning:
Strawberries are associated with love, sweetness, friendship, abundance, and attracting good things into your life. Across various folklore traditions, they often symbolize enjoying life's simple pleasures and appreciating what has been cultivated through patience and care.
Strawberry work-in-progress photo
Cape Henry Lighthouse
Mundane Meaning:
The lighthouse in the mural is the New Cape Henry Lighthouse, the black-and-white checkered tower that still stands watch over the entrance to the Chesapeake Bay today.
Its predecessor, the Old Cape Henry Lighthouse, holds an equally important place in American history. Authorized by President George Washington and overseen by Alexander Hamilton, it became the first public works project approved by the newly formed United States government. Completed in 1792, it served as an early symbol of a nation beginning to find its footing.
Magical Meaning:
Lighthouses symbolize guidance, hope, safe passage, and finding your way through darkness. They stand at the boundary between land and sea, certainty and uncertainty, known and unknown. In many ways, they serve as reminders that even when the destination isn't visible, a guiding light can still help you find your way.
Top
Virginia Skeleton Hands "Two Up, Two Down"
Mundane Meaning:
A tribute to one of the most recognizable symbols of Virginia and local pride.
Magical Meaning:
Hands are powerful symbols of action, creation, and influence. Skeleton hands also acknowledge mortality and remind us that every generation leaves something behind.
Fishing Lure
Mundane Meaning:
Fishing is deeply woven into Virginia Beach culture, from recreational fishing to commercial industries.
Magical Meaning:
Lures are symbols of attraction and drawing opportunities toward yourself. In magical terms, they remind me of manifestation work—casting something out into the world and waiting for what returns.
Shell
Mundane Meaning:
A simple nod to the beaches and coastline that define the region.
Magical Meaning:
Shells represent protection, intuition, emotional wisdom, and the element of Water.
Marine Life Side
Randy the Pelican
Mundane Meaning:
Brown pelicans are a familiar sight throughout Coastal Virginia and can be seen year-round, though winter is often the best time to spot them gathering along docks, piers, and waterways. They're one of those birds that quietly become part of the landscape until you stop and realize just how prehistoric and ridiculous they look.
Magical Meaning:
They survive by working with their environment rather than against it, making them a fitting symbol for coastal life. In folklore and symbolism, pelicans can also represent generosity and caring for one's community.
Additional Lore:
His name is Randy and he's smirking because he definitely just pooped on somebody.
Flipper the Dolphin
Mundane Meaning:
Virginia Beach is known for its wild Atlantic bottlenose dolphins, which can be seen throughout the warmer months, especially from May through October. Whether you're taking a dolphin-watching cruise, paddling through the waterways on a guided kayak tour, or simply walking along the Oceanfront, Sandbridge shoreline, or the Chesapeake Bay, spotting dolphins is one of the most memorable wildlife experiences the area has to offer.
The dolphin in the mural is named Flipper after Flipper McCoy's, a beloved Virginia Beach arcade that has become part of my own Virginia Beach story over the years.
Magical Meaning:
Dolphins are often associated with joy, communication, intelligence, playfulness, and community. They remind us not to take life too seriously all the time. In many traditions, dolphins are seen as guides and protectors, helping travelers safely navigate unfamiliar waters.
Havana the Stingray
Mundane Meaning:
The stingray in the mural is named Havana after my niece.
Stingrays are a common sight along the Virginia Beach coastline, particularly during the summer and fall months when they move through local waters. While most beachgoers will never have a negative interaction with one, they're a reminder that the Atlantic Ocean is a living ecosystem shared with countless other species.
If you'd like to observe stingrays up close without wading into the ocean, the Virginia Aquarium & Marine Science Center offers opportunities to learn about and safely interact with them.
Magical Meaning:
Stingrays represent grace, emotional awareness, adaptability, and moving through life with purpose rather than force. They don't fight the current—they work with it. There's something to be said for that approach.
Initial crab and stingray sketch done in chalk pen
757 Crab
Mundane Meaning:
Blue crabs are one of the most recognizable animals in the Chesapeake Bay and are commonly caught throughout the waters of Coastal Virginia. They're an important part of the region's ecosystem, economy, and food culture, making them a natural choice for a mural celebrating Virginia Beach.
Hidden inside the crab is the number 757, the area code shared by Hampton Roads communities including Virginia Beach, Norfolk, Chesapeake, Portsmouth, Suffolk, Newport News, and Hampton. It's a small detail, but one that locals usually spot immediately.
Magical Meaning:
Crabs symbolize protection, resilience, boundaries, and adaptability. Unlike animals that move straight toward an obstacle, crabs often move sideways, reminding us that there is usually more than one path forward. Sometimes persistence means changing your approach rather than giving up.
For numerology enthusiasts, the hidden 757 also reduces to the number 1 (7+5+7=19, 1+9=10, 1+0=1), a number associated with independence, initiative, originality, and forging your own path.
Seahorse
Mundane Meaning:
A recognizable marine species found throughout coastal ecosystems.
Magical Meaning:
Seahorses symbolize patience, persistence, gentleness, and the balance between strength and flexibility.
Navy Side
Skull with Sailor Hat
Mundane Meaning:
Traditional sailor tattoo imagery and a nod to Virginia Beach's military and maritime culture.
Additional Lore:
His name is Davy, a reference to Billy Joel's Piano Man and the lyric, "And he's talkin' with Davy, who's still in the navy and probably will be for life."
Magical Meaning:
Skulls remind us of mortality, legacy, and living a meaningful life while we have the chance.
Sailor Lady
Mundane Meaning:
Inspired by classic American traditional tattoo art commonly associated with sailors and military communities.
Magical Meaning:
She represents independence, adventure, courage, and the people waiting at home for loved ones at sea.
Dagger and Rose
Mundane Meaning:
One of the most recognizable motifs in tattoo culture.
Magical Meaning:
The dagger represents protection, courage, and conflict. The rose represents beauty, love, and resilience. Together they symbolize the reality that life's most meaningful things often contain both pain and beauty.
Compass
Mundane Meaning:
Navigation has always been essential to life on the water.
Magical Meaning:
Compasses symbolize purpose, direction, and finding your path when life becomes uncertain.
Swallow
Mundane Meaning:
A classic sailor tattoo. Historically, sailors earned swallow tattoos based on miles traveled at sea.
Magical Meaning:
Swallows symbolize safe journeys, returning home, loyalty, and hope.
Star
Mundane Meaning:
Nautical stars have long been used as symbols of navigation.
Magical Meaning:
Stars represent guidance, destiny, inspiration, and finding light in darkness.
Ship
Mundane Meaning:
The ship serves as the centerpiece of the Navy side and represents Virginia Beach's connection to maritime history and naval culture.
Magical Meaning:
Ships symbolize journeys, exploration, freedom, and venturing into the unknown.
Rope Frame
Mundane Meaning:
A visual reference to maritime craftsmanship and nautical traditions.
Magical Meaning:
Knots and ropework symbolize connection, commitment, protection, and the bonds that tie people together.
HOLD FAST Knuckles
Mundane Meaning:
"Hold Fast" is a phrase deeply rooted in naval history, encouraging sailors to maintain their grip during rough seas.
Magical Meaning:
For me, this may be the most important symbol in the entire mural. Hold Fast is about perseverance. It's about continuing when things are difficult, uncertain, frustrating, or exhausting.
Which, honestly, feels like a fitting message for a first mural.
Final Thoughts
One of the things I love most about Virginia Beach is that every person experiences it a little differently.
For some people, it's the beach. For others, it's the military, the fishing industry, the wildlife, the local businesses, the tattoo culture, the history, or the memories they've built here over the years.
This mural isn't meant to be a complete representation of Virginia Beach. That would be impossible. Instead, it's a collection of symbols, stories, and influences that stood out to me while creating my first public mural.
Some of the meanings behind these images were intentional from the beginning. Others revealed themselves later. A few are rooted in local history, while others are personal references, inside jokes, or symbols that simply felt right for the piece.
At the end of the day, my favorite part of public art is that it no longer belongs entirely to the artist. Every person who walks past it brings their own experiences, memories, and interpretations with them.
So if you see something I didn't mention here, you're probably not wrong.
Art is a conversation, and this mural is my contribution to the ongoing story of Virginia Beach.
