Interested in Mexican gang tattoos? Want to know what these cryptic tattoos mean and how to decipher them? Our guide to Mexican gang tattoos provides you with the background information you want to know.
Although people often think of gangs as being something related to hip hop and modern youth culture, this is in fact not true at all. Mexican gangs have existed in the United States in some form or another for over a century. On the East Coast, however, Mexican gangs have only started springing up more recently. Over the past decade, major cities on the east coast have seen a steady rise in the numbers of gangs composed of Mexican nationals, as well as US nationals or Mexican origin.
Mexican Gang Abbreviation Tattoos
The use of abbreviations and acronyms is extremely common among Mexican gang members who have these tattoos on their bodies as identifiers and sources of pride. For example, the Vagos gang, otherwise known as Los Vagos often abbreviate there name to a simple VGS which is tattooed on the gang members bodies to signify membership.
Mexican gang members who are really enthusiastic to demonstrate their loyalty will often add 100% after the abbreviated tattoo to reinforce their loyalty to the gang. Another example of this type of tattoo can be found
Religious Mexican Gang Tattoos
Although the original Mexican mafia prison gang banned the practice of religion as a precondition to membership, the fact that Mexico in general is a country deeply rooted in the catholic tradition has made it impossible to discount the influence of religion completely, even amongst violent criminal gang members.
This is why many Mexican gang members, regardless or their particular affiliation will often be found with tattoos depicting a pair of hands clasped together in prayer. This powerful image is supposed to represent a plea for forgiveness from God for the wrong the gang members have done.
Many Mexican gang tattoos often have significant phrases personal to that particular gang member. These include phrases like Mi Vida Loca (My Crazy Life) and Perdoname Mi Madre (Forgive Me, Mother) which show how they are aware of their gangster life and how it is unacceptable to their family members and loved ones. These words or phrases are usually tattooed in Old English style letters.
Some Mexican gangsters also tattoo the web of their hands with drawings symbolic of their special role within the gang. Sometimes these symbols are even burned into the hand.
Most Mexican gangs prefer the colors of the Mexican flag as their gang’s colors. The colors of the Mexican flag are green, white and red. That is the reason why these colors predominate in the tattoos of Mexican gang members.
