Historical Figures and Their Tattoos

Throughout history tons and tons of people all over the world have gotten tattooed, no one is surprised there. You might be surprised though to learn about some historical figures who have tattoos. 

Starting at one of the earlier figures King Harold II. King Harold II was the last Anglo-Saxon king of England, he reigned as king for 9 months before he was killed at the battle of Hastings. King Harold II sported a classy tattoo saying, “Edith and England” above his heart paying homage to his crown and his 2nd wife, Edith the Fair. 

Did you know that there is a history of tattooed presidents? Starting way back with Andrew Jackson. The 7th president of the United States has one of the larger tattoos on this list. Jackson was known for fighting for the common person against the corrupt upper class. He notably had a sizable tattoo of a tomahawk on his inner thigh! However Jackson is not the only president to have some ink. 

James K Polk, 11th president of the United States also has a tattoo. Polk is known for acquiring territory that allowed the U.S to spread coast to coast. This ambition could be reflected in his tattoo; a Chinese character which he believed meant eager. It could definitely have meant eager but we all know sometimes tattoos in other languages get lost in translation. 

Now as well as presidents, a particularly famous president assassin also had a tattoo. John Wilkes Booth, american actor and assassin of Lincoln. This tattoo is particularly unique, as Booth had his own initials tattooed on his hand. Maybe so, just like history won’t forget him, he won’t forget himself.

There is more to historical tattoos than just presidents and their assassins. R.H Macy, the founder of the American department store Macy’s got inked in his early adult life. Macy got a red star on his forearm as a young adult which inspired the stores logo later on! Some accounts of him said he was a total hipster in his time. 

Along with department store superpowers none other than famous invertor Thomas Edison also had a tattoo! Don’t get too excited, nothing too wild from this creative inventor in the tattoo category. Edison contributed to our lives in many ways but you may not expect tattooing. Though tattooing has been around way longer than 1891, that was when Samuel O’Reilly patented the electric tattoo machine. O’Reilly credited this machine to Edison as he only made adaptations to a machine originally made by Edison, who had a cryptic 5 dots tattooed on his forearm in the pattern they would be arranged in if on a die. 

Another tattooed president has made the list, Teddy Roosevelt. Roosevelt has his family crest tattooed across his chest. It’s no surprise that Roosevelt, being such a valiant person got his crest tattooed . Afterall if I had a family crest, I’d probably get it tattooed too. 

There is even a tattooed Czar in history! Czar Nicholas II was the last emperor of All Russia from 1894-1917. He got the Japanese dragon tattooed somewhere on his right arm. Uniquely we even know the date. The Czar got the dragon 1891 on a diplomatic trip to the tattoo empire of Japan. 

Infamous criminal, Charles “Pretty Boy” Arther Floyd had a particularly notable tattoo. Pretty Boy Floyd was known for bank robberies in the 1930’s. Some see Floyd as a notorious criminal but others see his crimes as last resort as a victim of the great depression. Floyd had a nurse and rose tattoo done by none other than the legend Bert Grimm. Grimm was at the forefront of American Traditional tattooing and there will be an article coming soon on him. It is said that Grimm had no idea he had worked on the infamous criminal until a U.S Marshall had showed up in Long Beach to visit him. The U.S Marshall had noticed Pretty Boy Floyd’s tattoo and went to get tattooed by Grimm himself!

You may know George Orwell as an author of some classic books: Animal Farm, and 1984 (both of which I recommend). Orwell was a police officer with the Indian Imperial Police in Burma in the 1930’s, where he presumably got his tattoos. Orwell had a single blue dot in each knuckle which was rumored to protect the person with them. 

Lastly my favourite, Winston Churchill and his tattooed family. Churchill was a huge figure in the second world war as prime minister of the UK and he had an anchor tattoo on his forearm. Winston wasn’t the only one in his family to get inked however, his mother, Lady Rudolph Churchill had a tattoo of a snake around her wrist. She cleverly hid this tattoo with a chunky bracelet when she didn’t want it to be seen. This isn’t unheard of because at the time it was somewhat common for socialites and upper class women to get expensive tattoo work done.

There are more historical figures with tattoos and many lists and explanations out there. I have covered some of the more well known names and more interesting tattoo work; but if you found this interesting let me know in the question section more people you’d like to hear about!

Sources: 

• 10 historical titans with surprising tattoo. (2010, December 02). Retrieved March 05, 2021, from https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/60351/10-historical-titans-surprising-tattoos
• Andrew Jackson. (2021, March 01). Retrieved March 05, 2021, from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrew_Jackson
• Bellis, M. (n.d.). The history of tattoo machine and its inventor. Retrieved March 05, 2021, from https://www.thoughtco.com/history-of-the-tattoo-machine-1991695
• Harold II. (n.d.). Retrieved March 05, 2021, from https://www.britannica.com/biography/Harold-II
• Nicholas II of Russia. (2021, March 03). Retrieved March 05, 2021, from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nicholas_II_of_Russia
• Patterson, G. (2014, January 14). 14 historical figures you probably didn’t know had tattoos. Retrieved March 05, 2021, from https://www.mic.com/articles/78927/14-historical-figures-you-probably-didn-t-know-had-tattoos
• People i didn’t expect to have tattoos. (2007, May 17). Retrieved March 05, 2021, from https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/16376/people-i-didnt-expect-have-tattoos
• Pretty boy floyd. (2021, January 25). Retrieved March 05, 2021, from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pretty_Boy_Floyd
• Staff, I. (2015, January 08). Tattooed presidents. Retrieved March 05, 2021, from https://www.inkedmag.com/culture/tattooed-presidents

Gatekeeper

Hi there! I'm Taylor, you may know me as Sterling Skull reception, or gatekeeper, or most recently Tater (thanks Chris). I love writing, creating and I love tattoos; so what better way to use my passions than to bring you a personal experience of our studio via a blog! Welcome, please stay a while!