Talk:Criminal tattoo

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[edit] level of info

I think the level of info for the Japanese section is currently about right. I'm based in Europe so don't know much about the US stuff. Please add anything you know! If there are other countries you can add (Mexico and S America?) please do! I have a copy of Baldaev's book and will try to add a bit more on the Russian stuff.


I have edited the info on the Aryan Brotherhood tattoos. I took out the claim they where founded in Idaho (I'm 99% sure it was Californa. Like "If it didn't say Idaho I'd be 100%" 99% sure) and added the fact that their shamrock tends to have "666" incorporated into it and why, also noted the fact the AB often hides the letters AB and "666" into other, less criminaly oriented tattoos. I'd like to add some information on American street gang tattoos but I'm not sure how to organize it, I'd say its a case of knowing to much to know where to start. What immeditatly pops to mind are the Six and Five point stars and crowns, but I'd probably start rambling about how Six point gangs tend to nominal allies while alot of Five point gangs have nothing to do with each other (and many are indeed enemies of pretty much anyone and everyone outside of their own gang). I don't know, I'd like to see the purely american gang tattoo culture represented but I can't write artical quality worth shit. -- Lich —Preceding unsigned comment added by 71.54.164.212 (talk) 07:07, 1 January 2008 (UTC)

[edit] for some reason

For some reason the version shown on screen is not the latest version. I suspect this may be due to a cached version but maybe there's a glitch in the wiki?

[edit] Pics

It would be nice to have some pics of tatts in question.



  • Nothing here about swallow tattoos on the necks and hands? I've always thought that this was a British prison thing.
  • swallows are a sailor tattoo i thought?


    • Swallow tattoo's are a "safe passage" tattoo. Nothing to do with criminals specifically. --Threatis 13:03, 21 November 2006 (UTC)
      • Could be but I can'tthink of one person I know of with the swallows on hands who hasn't been isnide, and been told that it's something someone gets done at the end of a longer sentence to symbolise freedom. Just a thought though, probably has roots from all over.

[edit] teardop

I had heard that the teardrop tattoo by the eye meant that the one displaying it had killed a police officer ... anyone else heard this?

It actually stands for a fallen brother when they display the teardrop.

Just in case you wanted to know, the US rapper "the Game" has one of thse below his eye after his brother got shot dead

It can mean 1. You've killed someone (not neccisarly a cop) 2. Someone you loved was killed/in prison 3. One tear drop for every ten years you've served (not are sentenced to). Gang/Ghetto tattoos are very subjective. Bloods and Crips might use the same exact tattoo but have completely diffrent meanings, or the above is true but the tattoo has been around for decades with a diffrent meaning then they choose. Just examples. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 71.54.164.212 (talk) 06:51, 1 January 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Another one

A dot between the knuckle and joint of the pointer finger on the right hand and a dot on each finger between the knuckle and joint of the left hand (minus the thumb) is a northside tattoo. I don't got a reference but I know for a fact I am correct if anyone wants to look for one. 70.96.235.178 20:39, 1 August 2006 (UTC)


[edit] Russian Tatto?

This page still needs a lot of work, and I can't tell if the Russian tattoos are an elaborate joke.

My main query however this line:

  • Swastika - is forcibly applied to forehead and marks one for death, or is a sign of rebellion against russian prison authority. Is not usually associated with the nazi swastika.

If it marks one for death why would anyone want to have it tattooed for any other reason?! Bug 13:23, 21 October 2006 (UTC)


The russian page isn't an elaborate joke, it maybe incomplete and even inaccurate in some specific meanings. But it's basically on the right lines.

I don't know about a Swastika on the forehead. But within a "normally" placed tattoo it isn't a nazi logo or a death sentence: it's more a willing show of defiance against the CCCP/soviet system (think of WW2 Eastern Front ie. your enemy is my friend). It doesn't even seemed to be used as an anti-semitic sign.

Not saying that there aren't plenty of anti-semitic tattoos, but the ones I've seen are more male stereotypical portrait type (hooked nose etc.)

--Selton1968 00:27, 26 October 2006 (UTC)


The clue to the answer to "if it marks one for death why would anyone want to have it tattooed..?" lies in the phrase "forcibly applied". The person wanting it tattooed (i.e. commissioning the tattoo) is not the wearer. Russian forehead tattoos are usually derogatory (to put it mildly!) and not voluntary.

Velada (talk) 01:37, 20 November 2007 (UTC)


Actually I've got to be honest and say I'm not convinced on the accuracy of any of these entries. I know, for example, a crusifix on your chest actually indicates you served time in a specific czech prison. A good rule of thumb for russian tattoos: If the symbolism makes sense.... Your wrong. Russian Tattoos seem to be almost randomly picked and their meaning just universaly accepted. The picture has nothing, what so ever, to do with what it represents. I suspect that the "Theives in Law" spread alot of disinformation about what their tattoos mean. Also, it says something about raping a child to be worthy of despise inside a russian prison. Frankly fellas, as sad and sick as it is... No, it's not considered a cardnial sin with any Russian's I've ever met through my work. They may not be pedophiles themselves, but if pimping an eight year old makes them a thousand dollars an hour they have no reservations. Of course the three I know are not "Theive's in Law". Why is their no mention of the Ex-Military "Bitch" faction? -- Lich —Preceding unsigned comment added by 71.54.164.212 (talk) 04:41, 1 January 2008 (UTC)


Danzig Baldaev (who was a prison guard for 50 years, having been brought up in a Soviet orphanage after his anthropologist father was sent to the GuLAG) gave an explanation to the effect that 'prisoners in eastern camps are less tolerant of sexual offenders than those in western [i.e. western USSR]ones'; the point being that the western camps tended to contain the professional criminals, whilst the Siberian camps, like those in Kolyma, tended to have more political offenders (who were more likely to share society's norms regarding such matters).

Alix Lambert's book contains several interviews with vor v zakone bemoaning the fact that in the 'New Russia' there is a new breed of criminal, who don't respect the old codes; and that their tattoos are no longer accorded 'proper respect'.

From her interviews, it seems the tattoos are in a state of flux; some interviewees felt tattoos no longer had specific meaning, others felt that there would be a resurgence, as hierarchies sorted themselves. Baldaev lists tattoos collected over his entire career; so some of the things on the list may be obsolete.

As for the Bitches - they were a faction of the vor v zakone who collaborated with the authorities; so initially, and amongst themselves, they would have the same tattoos. A "Bitch" who found himself in a camp dominated by traditionalist vori might soon find himself with a forehead tattoo indentifying him as suki (Bitch), though! Velada (talk) 19:25, 21 January 2008 (UTC)

[edit] the yakuza

There is nothing included in the page about the Yakuza and their tradition of tattooing members. A section on the Yakuza is most definitely needed. -sohoisdead 20.3.07


[edit] What references?

Why is the Russian section in particular tagged as needing references, when in fact it is the only subsection to give explicit references? (Although I assume the weblinks may supply references for other sections.)

Velada (talk) 01:42, 20 November 2007 (UTC)