Some time ago I booked myself in for a tattoo in Bristol, UK, and asked the tattooist to find or design me a quirky owl tattoo, He came back with an owl on a crow bar wearing a top hat with its wings spread. At the time i was completely unaware of Russian prison/thief tattoos so did not recognize it and loved it, the artists didn’t mention aannyything about it’s origin and i didn’t question it… I had it done then after about a year someone pointed it out for what it was.. a tattoo for Russian criminals/thieves. I am seriously considering getting it removed as the last thing i want is unwanted attention.. I don’t have any desire to go to Russia but obviously there are a lot of Russians in the UK and USA, two places i spend a lot of time… any thoughts on if this tattoo would provoke unwanted attention from any Russian ex-pats or ex-cons? Any thoughts on if I should get it removed?
Don’t get me wrong.. It looks awesome…. but that’s not really the problem here… 🙁
(here is what it looks like, if you are familiar with it, sometimes it’s above text saying “KAT” which means having done hard time.. i don’t have that)
Welcome to the forum!
I would do a thorough search of the tattoo. When were they applied? Where on the body were they applied? Do they still do them? It looks like something from the 1950’s or earlier.
Before I would get rid of it I would look for options to keep it and make it more awesome. I’d like to see a picture of your tattoo. Where is it on you?
Keep us posted. Pictures too.
@Sam-I-Am 126889 wrote:
Welcome to the forum!
I’d like to see a picture of your tattoo. Where is it on you?
Keep us posted. Pictures too.
Noooo idea how to upload my own image.. sorry, my forum knowledge is very basic. I FAQ’d how to do it and it said something about clicking Manage Attachments below where i type the post.. but can’t find that option at all… soon as i figure it out i will though.
Its quite large on the right hand side of my chest . I don’t think they are used anymore though and apparently weren’t that common (but i’m not 100% on that).. documented in the 1940’s.
There ya go!
@Sam-I-Am 126896 wrote:
I like it!
haha me too i was very pleased with it when it was done.. just wondering if it’s reckless to keep it now that i know there is a possibility it could be dangerous..
@Amok 126892 wrote:
I wouldn’t worry too much, lots of popular tattoos were/are common in prison, even the spider web that you see all the time. Most of the people who have them have never done time.
Yeah i thought too when i first heard about it, only thing is, it’s a very specific tattoo with a meaning. unlike spider webs, tear drops etc which have many different meanings depending on the culture that dons them.. this is very much only a russian symbol…
@Wardy 126900 wrote:
Are you planning on walking around with your top off all the time? if not then as long as your happy with it keep it. I would go and kick the tattooists head in also.
Not in the UK, but i’ll be off to LA soon and going to beaches n stuff so i wouldn’t really want to be fully clothed there. there’re a fair amount of Russian Ex-pats in LA… If the tattoo is well known and not used lightly etc.. then I can’t imagine they’ll wanna make sandcastles with me if they see it.
@fiftyfifty 126904 wrote:
Not in the UK, but i’ll be off to LA soon and going to beaches n stuff so i wouldn’t really want to be fully clothed there. there’re a fair amount of Russian Ex-pats in LA… If the tattoo is well known and not used lightly etc.. then I can’t imagine they’ll wanna make sandcastles with me if they see it.
They may buy you a beer. (Or a Stoli!)
Just found this that mentions the tattoo. but to be honest.. not sure how legit its claims are.
http://boingboing.net/2010/11/19/russian-criminal-tat.html
@peterpoose 126906 wrote:
personally I would keep it, it has a nice story behind it after all lol 🙂
And it actually does look like it was done in prison. History bonus!
@fiftyfifty 126894 wrote:
Noooo idea how to upload my own image.. sorry, my forum knowledge is very basic. I FAQ’d how to do it and it said something about clicking Manage Attachments below where i type the post.. but can’t find that option at all… soon as i figure it out i will though.
Its quite large on the right hand side of my chest . I don’t think they are used anymore though and apparently weren’t that common (but i’m not 100% on that).. documented in the 1940’s.
There ya go!
I’d say maybe get the design itself tweaked so it doesn’t mean specifically that. Maybe change the crow bar or something or even add something to it. It doesn’t look horribly done but the meaning isn’t the greatest
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