This document provides an overview of prison tattoos, discussing their history, symbolism, and perceptions. It notes that tattoos allow inmates to express identity and find camaraderie in an environment where autonomy is restricted. Specific gang tattoos are then analyzed, showing how the Ñetas, Aryan Brotherhood, Barrio Azteca, and Latin Kings use tattoos to represent their ethnic roots and solidarity despite facing adversity in prison. While tattoos are still stigmatized by some, the document argues they provide inmates an important means of self-expression.
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Danny Chung
Prof. Stanford
IHUM 280R
21 November 2015
A Light in the Cellblock: Aesthetics of the Modern Prison Tattoo
As the prison society in the United States continually grows and expands, the population
of those isolated within the confines of the walls of those facilities forges a greater sense of
culture unaware to the public view. Understandably, the norms behind bars are very much
unknown by the people who have not themselves experienced prison life. Much of what happens
remains a mystery to those without experience being incarcerated; hence the public perception of
active inmates remains what is seen through mainstream media and fictional literary and
cinematic narratives. Much of what is described of prison life by the popular culture—outside
prison culture—is portrayed as a reflection of the criminals behind the walls itself: violent,
sodomy-laden, negative, and often gruesome. The habit of illicitly tattooing among the inmates
has been the staple of this culture. Since the 1990’s, prison tattoo motifs have been gaining
popularity among the contemporary youth through portrayals by various icons such as Lil Wayne,
Fifty Cent, Wiz Khalifa, and the late Tupac Shakur. These tattoos, though, are still seen in the
eyes of many as a repulsive, vilifying symbol of the life wasted by the delinquencies of their
youths. The perception of prison tattoos, especially among the socially conservative, is that they
are symbols of discomfort as they represent a history of violence and career criminality among
its wearers. Yet, what many dissenters do not see is the intricacy, effort, and identity that go
behind each tattoo on the canvas of the inmate man. Each tattoo on the body of the prisoner
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expresses a sentiment that only the wearer will truly understand and the public can only
appreciate. Thus it is presumptuous for the ignorant to say that the wearers of these types of
tattoos are confused men seeking violence and havoc wherever they are. Rather than violent
individuals, these inmates and ex-convicts are embodiments of identity and artistic value. The
tattoos give these people a primary mode of self-expression from people who have lost much of
their autonomy. An understanding of this would lessen the social stigma that the public has of
the tattoos and the wearers of it. Through the specific motifs behind each prison-made tattoo,
representative of predominantly American-based prison gangs such as the Ñetas, Aryan
Brotherhood, Barrio Azteca, and Latin Kings, the tattoo designs of these gangs will come to
clarify the misconceptions retractors of this art have of the intimidatingly negative connotations
held of these tattoos.
The contemporary American public still misperceives inmate-made tattoos as objects of
regret and taboo. Since even the advent of mainstream Judeo-Christian philosophy, tattoos as a
whole were belittled and frowned upon as it would be a way of defacing one’s body. It is made
explicitly clear as it says in Leviticus 19:28, “Ye shall not… print any marks upon you” (LDS
KJV Bible). This was and still is a poignant opinion held by many who are socially conservative
as a means to repel the belief that tattoos are anything good or positive. In a religious
perspective, the conceited notions that tattoos are “immoral” or “pagan” reign supreme in the
minds of those opposed to them without recognizing the merit of performing such an art
(Kuwahara 195). In the opinions of such people, it is well to note that the stigma remains
inherently strong, even among wearers of tattoos, that 72% of male adults hide their tattoos from
visible sight (PRC par. 4). The labels of being “society’s rubbish” still imprinted deep in the
minds of so many discourage tattoo wearers from publicly displaying their tattoos (Thomas 159).
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In the instance of prison tattoos, they are almost immediately recognized as symbols of violence.
Unlike many conventional tattoos, which can range in symbolism from hearts, butterflies, initials,
or even animals of various kinds, prison tattoos can include a variety of sometimes offensive
references such as that of Adolf Hitler, skulls, scantily-clad women, and assault weapons. These
depictions are almost immediately perceived as a threat and a travesty to those who see them.
Connotations of fear and intimidation radiate from the symbols to the public who do not
understand the meanings behind such prison tattoos. As what much of the public, the American
conservative, perceive of these tattoos, it is important to know the history behind them before
jumping immediately to vilifying conclusions.
In addition to its social stigma, prison tattoos are also widely believed to cause a plethora
of health risks to the inmates themselves and possible consequential repercussions in prison
facilities that ban the practice. Due to the scarcity of items available for the practice itself,
inmates have to resort to nonconventional methods of creating ink and tattoo guns. With
components made of melted plastics such as pen caps and board game pieces for the tattoo, there
is a risk of skin irritation when it gets into the skin of the wearer (Dege). Because of which,
many prison tattoo artists have resorted to using less irritating media such as soot derived from
baby oil and shoe polish (Giang). Aside from the medium used for tattooing, the actual method
itself is often scrutinized for being unsterile and a vector for infectious disease to enter the tattoo
wearer. Without proper sanitizing methods, reports of wearers receiving blood borne viruses
(BBV) such as the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and Hepatitis C become concerns
among prisoners looking to invest in the body art (Hellard 1). Many incidents of non-injecting
drug user (IDU) prisoners contracting the disease have become issues when it previously was not
the case (Hellard 1). However, even with the unclean conditions of a prison facility, the prison
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tattoo artists are aware of the risks that come with lack of sanitation. In the words of an
interviewed prison contact, “Leon Kingsley (pseudonym to protect identity),” he mentions that
the instruments prison tattooists use for tattooing, as rudimentary as they are, are sterilized with a
flame on the needle (Giang). Kingsley claims that the tattooists’ works he has seen “rarely ever
gets infected” due to this safety procedure (Giang). Apart from the detriment to physical health,
because prison tattooing is considered illegal in a vast majority of prisons around the world, it
brings with it various in-prison consequences to the artist. Although the wearer himself is not
punished, the artist, if discovered that a tattoo gun is in his possession, can be sentenced from
“90-180 days locked up in a cell block” to solitary confinement (Dege). Due to the adverse
psychological effects that can come from such consequences, many prisons discourage the
practice. The result is the restriction of many inmates from expressing themselves in an
environment which already bars them from many of the liberties of a civilian.
Since prehistory, body-marking has played a definite role in human society. Predating
Judeo-Christian religion by several millennia, the first discovered tattooed body came from a
mummified body of a prehistoric warrior named Otzi. At 5,300 years old, the body had a total of
sixty-one tattoos, notably a cruciform design1 behind the right knee (Pilny par. 1). As the
symbolism is unknown, the tattoos were made of a composition of ash (soot) and sulfur inserted
into the skin (Pabst 2). From then on, depictions of tattoos were discovered on ancient
Mesopotamian ceramics representing an innate sense of veneration and beauty (Thomas 33).
Ironically in medieval Europe, in order to remember certain Christian pilgrimages, people would
often mark themselves with symbols of remembrance (Thomas 148-149). Tattoos also had its
role in Feudal Asia as markers denoting criminals and slaves (Thomas 139). With much of
global society up until the modern era, tattoos served many purposes for many different groups
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of people. When the early forms of colonization and globalization came about in the 1770’s
European sailors adopted the Polynesian cultural idea of tattooing2 and made it their own, giving
birth to the modern tattooing technique seen in mainstream society today (Thomas 152). The
cross-cultural interaction gave rise to much a mixed feelings among the peers of these European
sailors which almost promptly gave rise to negative reactions. The connotations of desolation,
poverty, and crudeness lingered in the minds of most middle to upper-class Europeans for a few
more hundred years and well into contemporary society.
Ever since the culture of tattooing disseminated from Polynesia to the world, the plebian
society’s use of tattooing to forge an unalienable identity among them has become a source of
solace to those isolated in the confines of prison. Ever since the historic connection of tattoos
with the vulgar, it has been adopted by many inmates since the discovery from the Polynesian
peoples. With its improperness collecting the attention of governments and prison officials, they
too became outlawed in United States prison systems. While in these prisons, the inmates
themselves are deprived of conventional materials to make professional tattoos, so many of the
instruments used were makeshift3. In modern prison systems, the tattoos received by inmates
were made from instruments ranging in composition but generally with pens, simple motors,
toothbrushes, and paperclips (Blackman). Due to the lack of dyed ink, it was also made in a
makeshift manner—often was the case, the liquid consisted of melted plastics derived from
checker pieces and pen caps (Dege). For the sake of comfort and cleanliness, though, inmates
generally preferred the use of soot from burnt baby oil4 and paper ashes as the medium to create
the tattoos (Dege). Limited to a monochromatic color scheme, the inmate tattoo artist usually
stuck with simple yet profound designs that would serve as a reminder to the fellow prisoner of
his sentence in the facility. The symbols varied among inmates according to race and gang
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affiliation, but some common motifs included the teardrops, cobweb and the clock found on
many of the prisoner’s persons. The teardrop tattoo5, immortalized by many popular icons, is a
simple representation of a variety of events of an inmate’s life. Depending on the area of where
the inmate is, the teardrop generally represents “dead homies” in which he has lost over the
course of his life (CorrectionsOne). Sometimes, it can represent jailtime sentences of the
wearers (CorrectionsOne). Due to the ease of its creation and the near-universal representation
behind it that every seasoned inmate could relate to, it has become the posterchild of prison
tattoos. The next two represents a lengthy sentence of the inmate—similar to the teardrop’s
latter connotation— in different ways: the clock6 is generally tattooed without the hands, which
connotes to the audience an absence of time while in prison (CorrectionsOne). The cobweb7,
though, signifies a general inactivity in society and being trapped in the correctional system itself
(CorrectionsOne).
Midst the surmounting opposition toward the art form, tattoos—prison tattoos
especially—are a beneficial outlet where inmates can express themselves in an environment
where they have no control over. One of the most essential needs of man is to feel like he has a
source of identity through his self. A sense of appreciation with oneself is essential for the
flourishing of man in the society where he dwells. Hence, it can be said that for anyone, civilian
and inmate alike, “the body is a direct locus of social control” (Kuwahara 3). Like inmates of
contemporary society, the sailors of the eighteenth century “were more or less homeless and had
little or no opportunity to shape an intimate environment of objects and relationships that they
could call their own, one that defined them as a person” (Thomas 152). Deprived from the items
and memories that made the sailor who he was, such as family, friends, society, hobbies, &c., the
discovery of tattoos from Polynesia served as that medium that the sailors so yearned for in order
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to forge identities all over their bodies like the indigenous peoples the sailors encountered. To
these forlorn Europeans, tattooing represented “the medium of their memories” (Thomas 156).
Poor and oppressed in poverty, the sailors knew that the only thing in which they knew they
wholly possessed was their own bodies. Through which, they used it to paint who they were in
order to forge that identity that they longed. The circumstances in which the sailors came from
served as a reminder of the tribulation they faced and the tattoos on their bodies was an “effort to
affirm themselves and their lives against the odds” (Thomas 156). For a prison inmate, much of
the same conditions as these eighteenth-century sailors existed. An inmate’s life is dictated by
the schedules and routines of the prison schedule and of the whim of the prison guards. An
inmate, thus, is severely restricted from being whom he feels comfortable with. With a loss of
self, an inmate has three choices to choose while serving his sentence: assimilate with the prison
system; rebel against it in order to solidify who he is; or to rid his existence altogether. The
difficulties of prison life paved the way for the practice of tattooing to flourish, because it
imprinted a permanent sense of self into the wearer. Tattoos not only served as a vessel of
memories for the inmate but also yielded in his self-acceptance as well. As a prisoner stated,
“[one] can jail my body, but you can’t control it; you can put me in solitary as punishment, but
you can’t take my tattoos away from me,” it affirms the fact that tattoos, even with all of its
possible repercussions, represents to the inmate that even under insurmountable odds, it shows
ultimately that there are still ways to retain one’s dignity (Olguin 174). The prison tattoo,
although it can be seen as that symbol of violence, allows the inmate to “link the self, the senses
and the social and the political” with the values and identity he truly cherishes (Thomas 7). The
mingling with others holding similar ideals then turns into a camaraderie—this develops a
symbiotic relationship of safety, protection, and security among the more vulnerable of the
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inmates. Ultimately, tattoos give the inmate a “concept of exclusion and inclusion” which they
never previously had in prison (Demello 11).
The tattoos of the Ñetas gang give its members their Puerto Rican identities and the
aspirations they have as the people they are. Originally hailing from Puerto Rico but now found
predominantly throughout United States penitentiaries, they are identified by tattoos of hands
crossing the index and middle fingers fettered outside a brick-laid compound.8 The symbolism
behind the hand signal represents “togetherness and loyalty” as is the general theme of the gang
(Jones). As the gang itself has gone through much tumult, the tattoo serves as a reminder of the
establishment of the gang itself in the 1970’s to “stop the violence of and protect its Puerto Rican
inmates” (Jones). Another emblem of the gang is that of the letter ‘N’ circled by a heart.9
Simplistic in design, it also serves its purpose to display loyalty and remember the purpose of the
group.
The tattoos found on the Aryan Brotherhood inmate can come in a variety of different
designs called ‘Alice Bakers,’10 but symbolize the unified purpose of philadelphic fellowship
(CorrectionsOne). Hailing its roots in California and one of the only gangs with an all-white
male membership, its symbols are but not limited to: ‘AB’ initials, swastikas, sig runes (SS), and
the ‘666’ number (Jones). Ironically, their inclusion of shamrocks11 in their designs display the
Irish roots of its founders, whom Adolf Hitler, the figure of their veneration, reviled. Still, the
display of such figures tattooed across their bodies display ethnic pride among the white inmates
and for much of the same reasons as the Netas, outwardly displays membership, solidarity, and
camaraderie—they too had a history of overcoming victimization.
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Tying roots to its indigenous Mexican heritage and its El Paso startup, the Barrio
Azteca’s use of Aztec-themed tattoos distinguish themselves from the other inmates. Although
its history did not start through humble beginnings like the previous two gangs, the tattoos in
which they carry do represent a sense of patriotism held by its members. As most of the group
come from Mexican provinces with a sizeable population of indigenous peoples, it is important
to the membership that they know who they are and who they represent. The large, pectoral
displays show ancient Aztec (jaguar) warriors12 which to them represents the fortitude and
willingness to go into battle on behalf of loyalty for the group (Valdemar).
Found both in the prisons walls and out on the street, the Latin Kings are a Chicago-
based gang known for its crown motifs in most all of their tattoo designs. The gang originally
gained prominence outside of prison through the cause of preserving Latino culture from
assimilation into white American society since the 1930’s (segag.org). Not only that, the
constant violence compelled this Latino population in the greater Chicago area to form together
into a cohesive body in order to protect themselves from violence caused by other racial groups
around them (segag.org). Thus, they are now considered the largest Latino gang in America,
branching into prisons all across the country (CorrectionsOne). The notoriety is displayed
through the crowns in which the members tattoo themselves with. Often, it is worn by an animal
such as a bulldog or a lion13 to display superiority over other gangs in which they complete
against (segag.org). Of course, notoriety can play a role in the recognition of the gang members
among other gangs, the tattoos also represent the triumph over adversity in which the members
of the gang had for its success. It connotes sacrifice, which its members have had extensive
experience in.
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Through the examples of four different United States prison gangs, the tattoos each
organization bears connote something symbolic rather than something confrontational. Each
tattoo adds to a collective movement of prison inmates to display their identities and confirm
their self-worth. A body is the only thing an inmate has control over and so it is used as a canvas
to paint a picture of whom he is to display to the world behind bars. As the conservative among
the popular public may still hold onto the bitter notion that these monochromatic designs are
simply barbaric symbols, the countless hours spent on the creations of these tattoos confirm
otherwise. The violence of a prison gang comes not from the tattoos themselves, but from the
gang as a whole. Hence, it is the object, or the tattoo that should be admired and not the gang
itself. Yet, if one gains an understanding of the meaning behind each tattoo of the inmate, it will
come to show the audience that even the violence or the negative connotations held of the wearer
or the gang it is affiliated with has a sympathetic reason behind it. It can truly be said that
aesthetics can be found in all walks of life, including among the contained.
11. Chung 11
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2012-7
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Picture." American Journal of Infection Control 35.7 (2007): 477-80. National Center for
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12. Chung 12
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17. Chung 17
10‘Alice Baker’ Tattoo: http://www.gannett-cdn.com/-mm-/1ab12025358499611a142515fcd91bc1d04a2421/c=204-
0-1704-2000&r=537&c=0-0-534-712/local/-/media/JacksonMS/2014/10/03/tcl-5fb2sy40di01ict8tjeaoriginal.jpg
11Shamrock Tattoo (NOTE: colored tattoos are generally not made in prison):
http://img.izismile.com/img/img6/20130802/640/the_meaning_behind_various_prison_tattoos_640_08.jpg
