My stepdad is 32 and he is covered mostly on arms neck and chest however on his hands inbetween your thumb and index finger he has a cross on each hand just a simple little cross, what does this mean and represent? He won’t tell me I’ve tried asking him and he won’t tell me and my mother just says none of my business, I’ve tried a google search and can’t find anything but a American pachuco cross which is not UK, anybody help?
Hi
I take it you mean a simple line cross usually on the section between the thumb an forefinger or on the finger itself?
My step father (I am also UK) also had them (although not a skinhead) and it can have a number of meanings.
The orig skinhead movement in UK had roots in reggae and the cross was a symbol of unity and straight edge living (no heroin and standing up for yourself)
It can also mean that you have bled for your beliefs or a friend has been killed in the movement by another gang member.
It was sometimes used as a symbol to represent the fact that they had survived prison as part of the anti-establishment.
In rare cases it meant that a person had killed or stabbed another but tended to be added to by drops of blood. These were usually shown by tear drop tattoos though.
As the movement changed and splintered in the 70’s the cross was adopted as a white power symbol of aryan purity.
My step father had a mass of gang and prison tattoos and was often reluctant to talk about them and sometimes it is better to just let things alone 😉
Take Care
Matthew
I take it you mean a simple line cross usually on the section between the thumb an forefinger or on the finger itself?
My step father (I am also UK) also had them (although not a skinhead) and it can have a number of meanings.
The orig skinhead movement in UK had roots in reggae and the cross was a symbol of unity and straight edge living (no heroin and standing up for yourself)
It can also mean that you have bled for your beliefs or a friend has been killed in the movement by another gang member.
It was sometimes used as a symbol to represent the fact that they had survived prison as part of the anti-establishment.
In rare cases it meant that a person had killed or stabbed another but tended to be added to by drops of blood. These were usually shown by tear drop tattoos though.
As the movement changed and splintered in the 70’s the cross was adopted as a white power symbol of aryan purity.
My step father had a mass of gang and prison tattoos and was often reluctant to talk about them and sometimes it is better to just let things alone 😉
Take Care
Matthew
Thank you very much, well he does kind of look a Skinhead… I think he has been to prisojn because he has swallows on his neck tattoos and this dotted line with ‘CUT HERE’ on it and I googled them and found it’s normally prison, could one cross mean going in and one cross coming out?
@
he was probably a former ayrian brotherhood member and maybe he left that in his past and is not involved in that anymore
Hi Arni
No there is no recorded Aryan Brotherhood in the UK and the White Power movement is not a shadow of that of the USA or say Germany/Italy.
We do have small groups such as Combat 18 but the National Front dissolved into the British Nationalist Party and the English Defence League.
All this said we are talking of a skin head culture in the hundreds not thousands it simply is not fashionable anymore and hasn’t been since around 1984-5.
@ TL
Sounds like your stepdad has done some time and prob why he doesn’t want to speak about it. Swallows are an indicator of doing time as is cobwebs on elbows and face.
Crosses and such are also done in prison because they are simple to do with minimum equipment and stick the fingers up at the establishment.
The key thing is how your step dad is now not what he may have done.
Take Care
Matthew
No there is no recorded Aryan Brotherhood in the UK and the White Power movement is not a shadow of that of the USA or say Germany/Italy.
We do have small groups such as Combat 18 but the National Front dissolved into the British Nationalist Party and the English Defence League.
All this said we are talking of a skin head culture in the hundreds not thousands it simply is not fashionable anymore and hasn’t been since around 1984-5.
@ TL
Sounds like your stepdad has done some time and prob why he doesn’t want to speak about it. Swallows are an indicator of doing time as is cobwebs on elbows and face.
Crosses and such are also done in prison because they are simple to do with minimum equipment and stick the fingers up at the establishment.
The key thing is how your step dad is now not what he may have done.
Take Care
Matthew
Okay thanks very much just I was reading up on ‘Prison tattoos of UK’ and the likes and found swallows, cobwebs, LOVE and HATE, the dots on knuckles none on the cross.
Do you think simply he either did it as a ‘Skinhead’ you know I heard it meant like crucified by society which is why lots of Skinheads had them or just bored and did it for the sake of it with no meaning?
Yeah in prison kind of any visible tattoos are screw you law type of attitude just wondered if he it had any significant meaning.
I’m guessing he was a Skinhead and just got it there instead of his forehead?:confused:
Thanks for your help.
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