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Criminal tattoo - North American

Criminal tattoo - North American: Encyclopedia II - Criminal tattoo - North American

A tattoo of three dots in a triangle, usually found on the skin between the thumb and forefinger, stands for "mi vida loca" ("my crazy life"). Along with the pachuco cross, it is a popular "generic" tattoo among Hispanic teenagers, and has no direct connection to gangs. The tattoo has also been adopted by Vietnamese teenagers, along with the similar interpretation of "toi khong can gi ca" ("I care about nothing"). See Three Dots Tattoo. A teardrop tattoo is said to indicate that the wearer has killed or a friend o ...

Criminal tattoo: Encyclopedia II - Criminal tattoo - North American

Criminal tattoo - North American

A tattoo of three dots in a triangle, usually found on the skin between the thumb and forefinger, stands for "mi vida loca" ("my crazy life"). Along with the pachuco cross, it is a popular "generic" tattoo among Hispanic teenagers, and has no direct connection to gangs. The tattoo has also been adopted by Vietnamese teenagers, along with the similar interpretation of "toi khong can gi ca" ("I care about nothing"). See Three Dots Tattoo.

A teardrop tattoo is said to indicate that the wearer has killed or a friend of his was killed in prison. It is worn by the eye.

A tattoo of a shamrock is associated with the white supremacist prison gang founded in California known as the Aryan Brotherhood. The Aryan Brotherhood is also known to use 12 as an identifier, with the 1 symbolizing the letter A, and the 2 symbolizing the letter B. Another white supremacy gang, the Aryan Circle, uses 13 as their symbol, with the same meaning.

A tattoo of an Ace of Spades was mainly adopted by the Aco Town and Asian Boyz gang, but have been widely used by Asian youths in California. Often, an "A" is placed in the middle of the space: the "A" symbolizing Asian and the Spades symbolizing thievery.

A tattoo of the number "13" is associated with the prison gang, Mexican Mafia, and affiliated California-based street gangs known as the Surenos. A tattoo of the number "14" is associated with the prison gang, Nuestra Familia and associated California-based street gangs known as Nortenos. A tattoo of "13 1/2" means 12 jurors plus 1 judge plus 1/2 a chance. It is a common practice for California street gangs of all races and ethnic backgrounds to have the telephone area code in their neighborhood tattooed, e.g. 213, 818, 310, 714, 415 ; with the frequent changes in California area codes, this can quickly become outdated.