June 29, 2008
The Importance of Religious Tattoos
By Prime in Society | 0 comments
Though tattoos have been used for many purposes, one of the main uses still in effect is for denoting affiliation with groups or organizations. Though this type of tattooing can be equated on some level with criminality, in truth it is a practice utilized by many official and well known groups throughout history. For example, in the medieval days, groups of individuals dedicated to a worthy cause would mark themselves with religious tattoos. This would help the general public to distinguish an official whose intentions were honorable from an impersonator looking to scheme and swindle. Many of these groups had their own distinctive tattoos encoded with secret meanings.
For members of ancient Japanese armies, dragon tattoos were a revered symbol for only the fiercest class of warriors. In World War II, everything from hearts with daggers to skull tattoos were popular ways to denote units, missions and kills. The placement of a tattoo had as much weight in identification as the design itself. While two separate groups could make an American flag their identifier, one specific group would choose the inner right forearm to place their tattoo while another would choose the upper left shoulder. These tattoos served not only to identify units but to also boost group morale and self esteem.
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