35 Amazing Russian Tattoos with Meanings

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The land of Russia expands across the globe to form the biggest nation in the world. Similar to any other country, it has its positives and negatives, but politics don’t limit the world of tattoo art from thriving there. In a country notable for its diversity, congenial nature, picturesque wilderness, and intense history, tattoo artists take motivation from all around them. Today, let’s talk all about the universe of Russian tattoos, their applications, and even their uncommon style! Grab some tattoo balm and prepare for a tattoo of your own after studying these designs. This exhibit of the Russian tattoos shows off the diversity of the amazing Russian tattoo ideas one can choose from. Most famous Russian designs take their inspiration from the ancient prisoners who used tattooing to inscribe their identity. So sit back and keep scrolling!

Religious Russian Tattoo

When people Google the implications of Russian tattoos, they seemingly want to discern the significance of Russian prison tattoos. Unlike American tattoos, nationalistic designs do not make up the bulk of it. Instead, theology takes the limelight and sparkles. The Russian Orthodox Church boasts 150 million members, although quite a few Russians migrated in order to continue the traditional form of Christianity that preceded it. The monasteries, church or cathedral, along with Virgin Mary, saints or angels show a peculiar kind of devotion to thievery. The skulls have a reputation for all things evil. Coffin, too, is associated with murder.

Temhota Designs

‘Temhota’ means blackness or evil in Russian, and defendants and cons use the word to express their mafia-inspired tattoos. Russian mafia tattoo applications have their own glossaries. Giving an example, this tattoo might portray the myth of Prometheus confined to rock following the stealing of fire for humankind, but the sailboat on the sea gives it a deeper meaning. The tattoo shows everyone who sees it that ‘this man travels, steals, and escapes to tell the tale.’

Snake Around the Neck

A snake around the neck anticipates drug addiction, the eight-pointed star (or rosette) suggests a thief identified all across the world, epaulets show haughtiness towards the administration, and the list goes on. On a note, a Nazi swastika does not significantly represent a Nazi sympathizer. Rather, the tattoo indicates that the prisoner resents the prison guards who act as Nazi generals towards them. Some prisons even ordered them to liquidate their tattoos because of this blow at their jurisdiction. No one likes getting called a Nazi.

Khokhloma Russian Designs

Contrary to the sinister tattoo styles that the Russian Tattoos are famous for, Khokhloma Russian tattoos portray a form of art that is typical to Siberia. It is because of the ample of black ink used in this art form, they are perfect for tattoos too. The main colors of the Khokhloma that are gold and red, make for great patterns when it comes to tattoos. The usual themes include creatures like sparrow, roosters, pheasant, peacock, foxes, bears and something that is common for every tattoo, flower vines.

3D Tattoo Designs

Of course, just like every other nation, Russian tattoo artists produce more than just conventional tattoo designs. They use a different type of 3D patterning that could give tribular designs a run for their business! They also use an unusual painting technique on their graphic tattoos. But, above all, they apply their inks to the best of their expertise. Without a qualm, Russia boasts of some of the world’s most famed tattoo artists! They even flaunt some unique tattoo studios and tattoo areas that help them with their astonishing work.

Epaulet Designs

Epaulets on the collars show a cynical attitude to the system and are worn by high-ranking offenders who often possess a corresponding nickname such as ‘major’ or ‘colonel’. Epaulets with three stars or skulls mean: ‘I am not a slave of the camps, no one can force me to work’; ‘The strong win – the weak die’ and ‘Horses die from work.’

Religious Designs

On this Muslim prisoner’s arm is a holy building with a crescent moon. The tower on his right arm displays a yearning for independence – and each wrist manacle implies that he’s completed a sentence of more than five years. The words on his arm read ‘Remember me, don’t forget me’ and ‘I waited 15 years for you’.

More Prison Designs

Eyes on the abdomen indicate homosexuality (the penis makes the ‘nose’ of the face). Stars on the shoulders show that a prisoner is a fugitive ‘authority’. The medals are citations that subsisted ere the revolution and as such are signs of insurgence towards the Soviet regime.

SOS Tattoos

The rose in prison language indicates that he has crossed 18 years of age in the prison itself. The ‘SOS’ stands for various connotations. It can either mean ‘Spasite Ot Syda’ (Save me from judgment); ‘Spasayus Ot Sifilisa’ (Saved from syphilis); or ‘Suki Otnyali Svobodu’ (Bitches robbed my freedom).

Text on Right Arm

The lines on this man’s right arm read ‘Save love, keep freedom’, his left arm reads ‘Sinner’, his bosom delivers ‘To each, his own’ and the words beneath the skulls reads ‘God against everyone, everyone against God’. A gun-toting cowboy shows a thief that is qualified to take risks and utilize any chance.

Traditional Prison Designs

The skull and crossbones confer that a convict is serving a life sentence. The girl ‘catching’ her dress with a fishing line is usually used by rapists. The words up his waistband read ‘I fuck poverty and misfortune’. On his abdomen is a version of Giorgione’s Judith (1504), a representative of an alluring woman who betrays a nobleman.

Prison Protest Designs

Nazi logos can mean that a prisoner has dictatorial compassion, but more ordinarily they are inked as a demonstration towards the prison or camp officials. While in the Soviet period, the authorities expelled these tattoos by force. A tattoo of a mermaid often symbolizes a sentence for child molestation.

Prison Designs for Tattoos

This prisoner has inscribed some words on his arm that go on something like this, ‘Thank you dear motherland for my ruined youth’. You will notice a dagger on the side of his neck which means that he is a murderer and can murder in the future, if his job demands. The drops of blood can be inked to imply the total number of executions he has committed.

Oskal Design

The demons that are inked is equaled for his resentment for the government and its officials. Tattoos like these are called oskal or ‘grin’. Grin because it implies a mockery of the government system. Oftentimes, some anti-soviet texts are also added to these designs.

Madonna and the Child

The Madonna and Child is a thieves’ amulet, appearing as a protector from calamity and despair. It also implies that the bearer has been a criminal from an early age: ‘A child of prison’.

Coat of Arms Design

The eagle design right at the center of the prisoner’s chest goes back to the 15th century. It was after the fall of Communism in Russia that this logo was altered by a hammer and a sickle to represent the Russian Federation’s coat of arms. If you wonder what this implies, well, it is a bold representation of hatred against the USSR. The Statue of Liberty, as the name suggests, is indicative of freedom.

Mafia Tattoo Designs

The dollars, skyscrapers, and the machine gun in the hands of what seems like a mafia, with the ‘US’ written over it convey the fact that the prisoner has a certain admiration for this kind of lifestyle. The eyes indicate ‘I’m watching over you’ (where ‘you’ refers to the other inmates).

Russian Nesting Doll Designs

A Russian nesting doll is a wooden toy that is played by youngsters and adults alike. Players should comprehend how to open the dolls to exhibit more petite figurines in each vessel without crushing them. The more petite the doll gets, the more critical it is to open. However, matryoshka dolls are not just a mechanism for educating children on how to sort out things and determine diverse colors and sizes because they have a symbolic meaning.

The largest doll is designated as a mother; hence, the name matryoshka. The more petite dolls, on the other hand, are the seeds. The biggest doll basically outlines a dominant female matriarch who is the central figure of the Russian family. The little dolls discovered inside the biggest figurine are its offspring. Therefore, matryoshka incorporates maternity and fertility.

Maternity and productivity are not the only connotations behind these dolls. It also symbolizes Russia as a country. The biggest figurine here is Russia while the smaller ones are the kids of Mother Russia or its citizens. Therefore, matryoshka or babushka dolls is someone who can cater to these things.

Matryoshka dolls can also mean life experiences. We are the big figurines, and the little trinkets inside each statuette are our encounters, anecdotes, and associations. We are human beings with distinctive occurrences. The tiny toys inside the doll represent our spirit, personifying integrity and the true essence of ourselves.

St. Basil Designs

There is nothing that can scream Russia more than this babushka doll right next to St. Basil.

Russian Coat of Arms

This tattoo consists of the Russian Federation’s coat of arms which, if you like, can also add with a picture of Yuri Dolgoruky on a horse next to the Moscow Kremlin’s Spasskaya Tower. The tattoo is quite traditional and reminds one of its roots.

Slavic Warriors

This is the symbol of an ancient Slavic warrior that will look attractive no matter what as it resembles the tribal tattoo designs which are quite in vogue these days.

Soviet Cartoons

Iconic Russian cartoons are another subject for body art. Check out this variant of “Tom and Jerry.”

Bunny Design

A huge, robust bunny…or is it a hare?

Olympic Mascot

Misha, the 1980 Olympic mascot of 1980, may seem delicate and cuddly, but we ensure some of the men donning the tattoo aren’t.

Russian Revolution Inspired Designs

Russian Revolution was nothing minor, in fact it has a deep-rooted seat in everyone else’s hearts. Vladimir Lenin, therefore, must have had a huge fan following and so he is also a popular choice for tattoo designs too.