Thief in Law - Tattoos

Tattoos

The Vory subculture (more exactly: the prison inmate subculture where Vory are the respectful leaders) are well known for having very well-made tattoos. The tattoos are usually done in the prison with primitive tools.

Tattoos associated with the thieves in law include, but are not limited to:

• A pair of eyes on the underside of the abdomen indicate homosexuality
• Madonna and her Child (St Mary and the infant Jesus Christ) indicates a criminal lifestyle from a young age
• A spider tattoo, when facing up, denotes an active criminal; facing down, it denotes one who has left the lifestyle
• The eight-pointed star denotes rank as thief in law depending on where it is placed
• A circled "A" (done in the style of a finger ring) indicates an anarchist (анархист, anarkhist)
• A circle with a dot inside (as finger ring) indicates an orphan (круглый сирота, krugliy sirota), or the saying "Trust only yourself" (надейся только на себя, nadeisya tolko na sebya)
• A skull inside a square (as finger ring) indicates a conviction for robbery (судим за разбой, sudim za razboy)
• A lozenge with an Orthodox cross inside (as finger ring) indicates a thief-in-law (вор в законе, vor v zakone)
• A circle with the left half black, right half white (as finger ring) indicates one who moves around thieves-in-law, but is not one himself (в кругу воров, v krugu vorov)
• The letters "KOT" indicate a chronic prison inmate (коренной обитатель тюрьмы, korennoy obitatel tiurmy)
• The letters "ОМУТ" on the back of the hand indicate one from who it is difficult to get away (от меня уйти трудно, ot menya uiti trudno)
• The letters "МИР" on the back of the hand denote one who has murdered (меня исправит расстрел, menya ispravit rasstrel)
• The word "CEBEP" (North; север, sever) on the back of the hand indicate time done in a Northern prison (Siberia, or Magadan)
• A cat in a hat (from Puss in Boots) on the back of the hand is the symbol of the thieves in law and, as such, denotes one
• The head of the Devil (Fenya: Оскал, oskal; Russian: голова диавола, golova diavola) on the back of the hand denotes one who harbours anger towards the Government
• The quincunx on the wrist indicates one who has done extensive time, from the saying "the four walls and I" (четыре вышки и я, chetyre vyshky i ya)

In the USSR, it was a well-known fact that the ordinary person must never have a tattoo which denotes a Vor, and, if the criminals will see such a person, he will be confronted (sometimes in a deadly way) by them for being an impostor of a Vor.

According to some ex-law-enforcement officers like Dmitry Puchkov, this gradually ceased with the USSR downfall.