Popular Gen Z tattoo trend exposed for resembling a hateful Nazi symbol: ‘Please don’t do it'

Before we get started here, let’s get one thing out of the way — getting a permanent mark on your skin is a massive decision that should be taken seriously.

It’s OK to get a meaningless tattoo, but for the love of all that is good, if you’re going to make it a symbol … maybe Google it first?

I say this because a recent trend has emerged in which members of Gen Z are getting a “Z” tattoo, which is seemingly innocent, but actually resembles a Nazi symbol.

In a video that has since been made private but continues to be shared across the platform, TikTok user smoothavocado suggested that all members of the youngest generation get matching ink.

“What if, now hear me out … we all got a matching tattoo, not only a symbol of unity in our generation, but also as a sign of rebellion,” she said in the post.

It didn’t take long before users started pointing out the similarities between the proposed “Z” symbol and the wolfsangel symbol, which is often associated with the Nazi party and other white supremacist groups.

Over the years it has been altered by various hate groups, so it’s not uncommon to see a slightly different version that still bears the same hateful meaning. Credit: TikTok

Commenters were predictably outraged.

“Please don’t do it it’s a Nazi symbol,” one said.

“I’m embarrassed to be a Gen Z,” another wrote.

“Why do y’all not do any research before doing something permanent,” a third said.

Unfortunately, many people got the tattoo before they realized its potential impact.

Smoothavocado apologized for spreading the idea in a later TikTok, which has also been made private.

“I have been writing my zs like that since elementary school,” she said in the post, according to Distractify. “So when I put that on there, I did not think anything of it … My entire point of this was to bring my generation together. It was about love and unity, OK?”

Undeterred by mistakes of their peers, some Gen Z-ers are still trying to coordinate matching tattoo ideas. What could go wrong?

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If you found this interesting, you might also want to read about a makeup company that had to apologize for naming a product after Anne Frank.

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