Tattoo Designs: The Tear Tattoo

To the unaware, tears of tattoos may just seem to be a sad, symbolic tattoo used to perhaps demonstrate the state of mind of the tattooed person. Yet while the symbol of a tear, usually tattooed directly beneath the eye, may seem innocent, it’s roots and meanings are far more dark.

It has become custom for a tear tattoo to symbolise a person. On the more acceptable side of the design, a tear tattoo is used to symbolize a fallen brother. This is sometimes a literal brother, or a close friend or colleague who lost their life due to an unnatural death. In these instances, the tear tattoo is nothing more than an outward sign of mourning and remembrance, meant only for these purposes.

Yet the real history of tear tattoos is far less emotionally sensitive, though no less symbolic. Tear tattoos are very popular for prison inmates. In these cases, they tend to be used as a sign of the amount of murders the tattooed person has committed. No one seems quite sure if they are used as a status symbol or as an act of penance or apology, and no doubt the real reason behind the tear tattoo depends from person to person.

In both cases, the appearance of the tattoo does not end in the shape. Further details as for the reason for the tear tattoo can be gleaned from it’s total design. In general, just the outline of a tear – an empty tear – tends to be a sign of a fallen brother who was killed, though it can mean that the bearer has unsuccessfully attempted murder. A full tear tattoo, one which is coloured inside the lines, is often used to represent a friend who has taken their own life. In prison and criminal circuits, a full tear is the declaration of a successful murder. Finally, a tear that is empty at the top but full at the bottom, means in most cases that the bearer has avenged the murder of a loved one.

The use of the tear tattoo is, for these reasons, something to be avoided by the general populace. It is seen as a highly symbolic type of tattoo and even if you were to want one just to symbolize mourning and the death of a loved one, it is too easy to get the different reasons confused and you could give someone a particularly bad impression. It is a real shame that what is actually a symbol of remembrance can mean something else entirely. For most, avoid the tear tattoo, but there is nothing wrong with admiring the simple beauty it can sometimes evoke.