The following article discusses common prison, gang, and hate tattoos. Unfortunately, there are a lot of them.

This story is not an endorsement for these types of tattoos, but an article that can be used for identification purposes and for greater understanding of what these tattoos are used for within prison and gang systems, and to the wider world.

I found this assignment both repugnant and fascinating. In my opinion, these tattoos are a lingering stain on the world of tattoo that stop our industry from gaining the full acceptability it deserves as an art form and choice of expression.

The use of control and power for the deployment of these types of tattoos was something I had never considered – like a branding onto cattle, or the slave identification tattoos of Greek Antiquity – this body modification could never be considered art in any fashion.

They are inherently ugly.

Read on to learn about 12 types of hate tattoo, and explore how and why these tattoos have taken such a large place in collective consciousness.

1. Aryan Brotherhood Prison Tattoos

Image Source: Wikimedia Commons, Created in Canva by Jono

Aryan Brotherhood tattoos come in many sizes, shapes and designs. All of them signify membership to the primary gang for Caucasians in prison and are often accompanied by other forms of white supremacist body art (more below). 

 The Aryan Brotherhood is comparatively small in numbers but have the reputation for ready murder and ruthless retaliation when crossed. Most Aryan Brotherhood tattoos reference the initials A.B.

The examples here are from a pair of Texas branches of the prison gang. 

Note the poor quality in design – they were almost certainly done by a prison ‘scratcher.’ As tattoos are illegal within jail, needles, ink, and rudimentary machines are often cobbled together from all sorts of refuse, from pens and plastic to workshop offcuts.