35 Tattoos That Range From Incredibly Problematic To Just A Clear Sign Someone Has A Bad Personality
While not everyone likes the same tattoos, there's a difference between a bad tattoo and one that straight-up signifies someone is an insufferable person. A while back, Reddit user u/MR_COOL_ICE_ asked, "What sort of tattoo on someone is a major red flag for you?" and honestly, I'm glad to know to avoid anyone with these tattoos.
CBC/Pop!TV
First off, let's start with the ones that mean someone is probably a racist POS...that you may not have heard about:
1.Obviously, we know a swastika tattoo is bad news — but a lesser known one that means the same thing is a tattoo of the number 14, which signifies the quote from Nazi David Lane: “We must secure the existence of our people and a future for white children.”
Suggested by superkay
2."The number 88. It's used in the Aryan Brotherhood as an abbreviation for Heil Hitler (explanation: H is the 8th letter of the alphabet)"
3.The Schutzstaffel double S/SS bolts are also a Nazi symbol.
"If you’re such a racist you’re willing to wear it on your skin, thanks for the warning I guess cause I’m OUT."
4.Tattoos of "WP" (which stand for white power). Also, in case you didn't know, the blood drip cross is a KKK symbol.
Suggested by redtoenails
5."A teardrop under the eye. If just an outline, usually means the wearer has suffered pain (or more likely caused pain) or served significant time for their associates (gang). Perhaps 15 years. A filled-in solid teardrop usually means the wearer has caused death for their associates (gang)."
6."Confederate flag anything. Once saw a Confederate flag butterfly tattoo. Teenage me asked if it was a joke. Things got awkward real quick."
7.The "don't tread on me" drawing — also known as the Gadsden flag — which has become a symbol of the far-right.
"I saw a guy with a Confederate flag tattoo, an iron cross tattoo, a 'don't tread on me' tattoo, and a couple rifles to fill the empty space."
8."I think this might just be an Australian thing, but having the southern cross tattoo anywhere is a red flag. Don't know why it's specifically the southern cross, but holy shit, every person I've ever met with that specific tattoo has been a walking red flag."
"Sadly, the southern cross tattoos mentioned above tend to fit this: they're typically (not exclusively, sure, but typically) seen on very right wing, nationalistic types, often of a lower socio-economic status, who are anti-immigration and probably harbor a lot of other less obvious (?) bigotries (no point listing all those possibilities here, but once you know that sort of tatt down here is like having a Confederate Flag in the US, you can surely guess) to the point that if you can't see the tat, the 'fuck off, we're full' or similarly ignorant 'this is Australia, we speak English' t-shirts or bumper stickers will give it away anyway."
9.Another Aussie one — "If I see the Eureka stockade flag on someone I get a bit nervous."
"It’s often adopted by far right, racist groups such as the English Defence League."
Alrighty, now that we've gotten that out of the way, let's move on to red flags that are slightly less "put me in jail," but people still think are problematic.
10.A Dark Mark tattoo from Harry Potter, as Death Eaters are believed by some to be analogous to Nazis.
"The death eater tattoo feels off to me. I have friends that have them and it always makes me a little uncomfortable."
"A death eater tattoo is basically a fictional equivalent of a swastika tattoo. It's fascist and racist and I will DEFINITELY judge you."
Warner Bros.
11."Anything tribal on a neon white man."
"Someone getting [a tribal tattoo] with no knowledge of or support to that tribe, would be messed up."
12."Anything in a language they don’t speak/have a connection to."
"What you think it means: 'Wisdom and Courage.' What it actually means: 'Fried pork with mushrooms.'"
13.Specifically: "Chinese characters with absolutely nothing to do with China or your heritage."
14."Childhood characters doing something unsavory. Like Winnie the Pooh in a dominatrix outfit. Decapitated Pikachu. Something like that."
"I had an odd woman come into my shop asking for a Miss Piggy in a leather dominatrix outfit and poor Kermit was in a leather dog suit with mask. She pulled up her shirt to show me she wanted it on her belly. Told [her], ]no sorry, not my kinda tattoo' and she said, she didn’t have the money anyway. Few weeks later the police busted her and her boyfriend for child sex abuse images."
"That one drawing of bugs bunny spanking lola bunny. it never fails to make me cringe."
15."I have known quite a few guys in the military that got 'infidel' in a font to simulate Arabic writing. Every one of them was a huge dickhead. They took their couple of years in the military and made it their personality, and hate everyone. Huge red flag."
16."A 'Punisher' tattoo. Especially if they’re in any sort of authority position."
17."Men with lips tattooed on their neck."
18."If a man has tattoos of naked women."
"I once saw a guy with two naked women on his back...they went from his shoulders to his hip bones and were very detailed. I ended up just being incredibly curious about it — like why naked women on your back? He can't see them. The only issue was that the reason I knew he had them was because he was shirtless playing volleyball at a family picnic...probably not the most appropriate tattoos when children are around."
19.Really just anything that's inappropriate for children, TBH.
"While flipping through an artist's book while waiting for my friend to get her tattoo, there was one of a woman pleasuring herself while riding a motorcycle. Good artwork, not a tattoo for me though."
"This isn’t a popular tattoo, but it's one that I saw in the wild in Idaho. We were at a water park and I saw a man with his three children. It would have been cute to see the family together but he had a chest tattoo that took up fully half of his chest that was a well-endowed fully nude woman riding a bomb. Disgusting."
20.Giant tattoos of a celebrity's face because they're *that* obsessed with them.
Suggested by theresal419ade210
21.Or worse, a tattoo of a serial killer's face like Charles Manson.
Suggested by OurReprobateMinds
22.A tat of their partner's name when they're still with them, especially if it's prominent, and ESPECIALLY if their partner doesn't also have one.
"My coworker married another coworker. Prior to that wedding, he asked her to prove to her how much she loved him. So she got a tattoo on her neck with his last name on it. BIG artistic letters.
Now, mind you, this man is a douchebag and a half, and they have 'issues' in their marriage...that tattoo just proves how much self-love she had for HERSELF, which is absolutely zero.
SO seeing their partner's name on a very clearly visible area while the partner does not have any tattoos is a major red flag."
"I 100% agree, a partner asking you to 'prove your love' by basically branding yourself off from the rest of the world — and scaring off any further romantic partners — should be illegal, in my opinion. i feel like there should be some obligation of the tattoo artist to decide something is amiss there if one person is permanently altering themselves and the other is demanding it. like pulling the client aside with the abuser outside of the room, and asking if everything is okay at home."
Finally, let's end on some more subjective ones that people just think are signs someone is annoying or has a bad personality.
23."Sort: Ex's names. Placement: Face."
NBC
24.“'Loyalty.' The people I see with this tattoo...they usually don’t appear to be the loyal type."
25."Anything...weed-related. It tells me that has become their identity, basically."
"if weed is your entire personality, you have a shit personality."
26.Too many matching tattoos with others.
"I was once friends with a girl who had ten tattoos, all of which were matching tattoos with other girlfriends. She’s no longer friends with any of them. Two big red flags there — intense codependent friendships, many enemies/falling outs with past friends. She even tried to get me to do a matching tattoo with her once. No, thanks."
27."Carpe diem." (Editor's Note: I'm just gonna include #YOLO, no regrets, etc. to this one.)
Warner Bros. Pictures
28."Stupid baseless words like 'Pay2play' or 'Boss movezzzz.'”
29."'Only God can judge me.'"
"Every time I have seen one it’s on someone who refuses to acknowledge their own wrong decisions have fucked their life up at some point or long term."
SME; Forward Music Publishing Co.
30."'Live, Laugh, Love.'"
"In the 'Live, Laugh, Love' font of course."
31."Brand logos of any kind. If you like any corporation enough to get their logo tattooed on you, I’m guessing we have some major ideological differences."
32."MAJOR red flag? Those that espouse judgemental or unreasonably exclusive ideologies (ie. the Apple logo)."
33."Where I'm from it was a trend among jock types to get a tattoo with THEIR OWN name or date of birth. It was a guarantee that they didn't have a strain of creativity in them."
34."Finger mustaches."
"I feel like we can all judge this one with no remorse."
35.And finally..."A poorly done one. You didn't do your research before you made a big choice."
"A bunch of poorly done tats. One is ok cus it’s probably their first but MULTIPLE!?"
"If the majority of their tattoos are not well done. Shows a lack of appreciation/understanding for the craft but also poor judge of character when picking an artist."
What tattoo do you think is a major red flag? Let us know in the comments below!
Submissions have been edited for length/clarity.
