Dark meaning behind five dot tattoo if you ever see it on person's hand

Tattoos can have little to no meaning outside of liking a piece of art. But there are some that carry baggage, a secret code, and a history that implies a troubled past

Sure, there's the teardrops you see on a person's face under their eye. Unless you've been living under a rock, you'll know this means you've committed a serious crime, such as taking another person's life.

It doesn't always mean that though - just look at Jeremy Meeks aka the 'world's hottest felon', who has one on his left cheek despite not committing such a serious act. In fact for some, it may just indicate you've spent time in prison, and on the flip side, an indication a loved one was murdered and you will continue to seek justice or revenge.

The same goes for the so-called 'five dot tattoo', also known as the quincunx, that many a person have inked on their hands. You'll see this often in a square pattern with the fifth dot in the center.

For some, this indicates you have spent time in prison with the dots quote literally being the wall corners of the cell you lived in, with the inner dot being you. Pretty dark stuff and somewhat claustrophobic.

You'll often see this tattoo on a person's hand, between their thumb and forefinger.

Over on Reddit, one person asked what it means after spotting it on their neighbour's hand. They said: "I've got a new neighbour and noticed he had this tattoo, too – it's super simple, five dots in a cross shape, kinda like the Portuguese coat of arms near the thumb on his hand. It's weird because I've run into guys with that exact same tattoo a bunch of times; even the waiter on my recent vacation had one. Anyone know what it means? And why do people from such different places have it?"

Responding, one person said: "Are you talking about a quincunx? If so, the most common one is a prison tattoo. The four outer dots represent the four walls of the cell and the central dot represents the prisoner."

With the symbol being popular in the Russian criminal underworld, it's important to realise the hidden meanings behind what you might see online and why you should research before simply inking yourself with the same logos.

“In Russia, the prison tattoos hold such strong meanings that if you misrepresent yourself through tattoos you will lose fingers, says Claudio Traina, a tattoo artist who works between Italy and England.

“Nowadays, people do these kinds of tattoos just for the aesthetic, which can make things complicated if you’re in the wrong place at the wrong time.”

The 5 dot tattoo is related to time spent in prison (Getty Stock)

The same can be said for having the ink in the United States of America, with the symbol closely associated to the People Nation gang in Chicago and the Nuestra Familia prison gang in Northern California.

As for why you'd show off your time in prison, reaction is mixed when it comes to the five dot tattoo.

"If I got out of jail, the last thing I'd want to do is get a tattoo to show everyone I'd been inside. But that's just me, who knows," one person wrote.

But another said: "You might be proud of that and want to show it off with a tattoo, who knows."

And a third posted that some may want to show it as part of their process to 'turn their life around'.

It's not all crime, though. Some tattoos have a very different meaning. Take the 'black band' tattoo that you might see people have around their arm.

This has a number of meanings, from sexual to mourning a person's passing. There's also different meanings for the thickness of the black loops, with a significant breakdown of what's what here.