It's an African Adinkra symbol called a sankofa. It literally means "return to your roots". The bird is always moving forward but perpetually looking backwards to its past to make better decisions in the future. I added some crazy design and its bigger than I thought I'd get but that's the gist of it. I lived in Africa for a while so it means a lot to me. Taken minutes after I got home from the tattoo place! Rate please?