Knuckle tattoo

A knuckle tattoo is a tattoo on the tops of a person's fingers, between the knuckles, commonly two groups of four-letter words or one eight-letter word.[1] It is not necessarily a prison tattoo, as sometimes believed, but remains an unpopular form of tattoo—alongside hand tattoos in general—due to the difficulty of hiding it in situations such as a formal setting where it would be seen as crass.[2] Some people also use their knuckles to tattoo drawings and images, sometimes in groups of four, such as the four symbols of a deck of playing cards.[3]

Examples

In sailor tattoo traditions, deckhands may get HOLD / FAST as a charm to support their grip on rigging.[4] The 2003 historical drama film Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World, set in 1805, portrayed a crew member with HOLD / FAST knuckle tattoos.[5][6]

Robert Mitchum's character Preacher Harry Powell wears LOVE / HATE in the 1955 horror-thriller film The Night of the Hunter.[7] In the 1980 action comedy film The Blues Brothers, the main characters have JAKE / ELWO/OD on their knuckles.[8]

Musician Flea wears LOVE / LOVE.[9] Professional wrestler CM Punk wears DRUG / FREE.[10]

References

  1. ^ Schonberger, Nick (8 December 2011). "Hate Or Love? The 10 Best Knuckle Tattoos". Complex.com. Retrieved 4 August 2014.
  2. ^ Hudson, Karen L. "Why Many Tattoo Artists Refuse to Tattoo Hands, Feet, and Faces". About.com. Archived from the original on 4 July 2017. Retrieved 4 August 2014.
  3. ^ DeMello, Margo (2014-05-30). "Knuckle Tattoos". Inked: Tattoos and Body Art around the World: [2 volumes]. Bloomsbury Publishing USA. ISBN 979-8-216-10279-3.
  4. ^ Triezenberg, Julia (January 8, 2021). "Weekend Break: Historical maritime tattoos". The Astorian. Retrieved 2022-06-09.
  5. ^ von Busack, Richard (November 19, 2003). "O Captain, My Captain: Russell Crowe and Paul Bettany bond on the high seas in 'Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World'". Metro Silicon Valley. Retrieved 2026-03-03.
  6. ^ French, Philip (2003-11-23). "Command performance: Russell Crowe shivers the timbers heroically in Peter Weir's magnificent high seas drama". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2026-03-03.
  7. ^ Richards, Sam (10 January 2014). "A brief history of knuckle tattoos". The Guardian. Retrieved 4 August 2014.
  8. ^ "Marked men: 26-plus bad-ass characters with memorable tattoos". The A.V. Club. 2010-05-24. Retrieved 2022-06-12.
  9. ^ "Flea has LOVE tattooed across both his knuckles". Getty Images. 2016-05-01. Retrieved 2025-09-11.
  10. ^ Gomez, Luis (March 26, 2012). "Interview: Behind the snarl of CM Punk". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 2023-05-12.
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