If we go back a couple of generations, there were lots of different tattoos that were viewed as gang tattoos, and it didn’t matter if they were directly related to certain gangs or not.
This is due to the fact that tattooing was not as common for regular people as it is today, so having any sort of tattoo would have made people assume that you were associated with a gang or some form of criminal activity.
So tattoos, in general, would have been connected to gangs, regardless of whether that is what the tattoos represented.
This is not the case today, as tattoos are actually now very common, and different designs can be associated with various different things. However, this does not mean that gang tattoos are no longer around, because this is not the case.
There are still lots of different tattoo designs around that are specific to the various gangs that are still operating in major cities.
Gang tattoos were designed to mark an individual as a member of the group, and it could also be an indication of their status within that group. One tattoo design that you might have heard about is the Crips tattoo, which originates from a gang with the same name.
The Origin Of The Crips Gang
The Crips are a gang that is based in the coastal regions of southern California, and it was founded in both Los Angeles and California in 1969.
The two people that this is mainly credited to are Raymond Washington and Stanely Williams. There used to be a unique alliance formed between two autonomous gangs, but they now form a loosely connected network of people in individual sets that often engaged in open warfare with each other.
The members of the Crips gang traditionally wore blue clothing, and this is something that is not so common now, due to the fact that police were targeting certain gang members based on their clothing.
Historically, the members of this gang were mostly of African-Amerian heritage. The Crips are one of the largest and most violent associations of street gangs in the US.
It has been estimated that this gang is made up of around 30,000 members, and some of these individuals have been involved in murder, robberies, drug dealing, and various other crimes.
The Crips are also widely known to have a long and bitter rivalry with another gang called the Bloods.
Stanley Tookie Williams and Raymond Lee Washington both met in 1969, and together, they decided to unite their gang members, which would allow them to take on other street gangs.
The majority of the members were just 17 years old. By the time that 1978 rolled around, there were around 45 Crips gangs, which are called sets, and they operated all over Los Angeles.
The Crips have been heavily involved in the production of PCP marijuana, and amphetamines. On the 11th of March in 1979, the man that formed the group, Stanley Tookie Williams, was arrested on the count of 4 murders.
As well as this, on the 8th of August in the same year, the second creator of the group, Raymond Washington, was gunned down. Even though both of the original members and creators of the Crips group were gone, the gang only continued to grow.
Interestingly, the origin of the name of the group is not currently known, although, there is speculation that the word Cribs come from the group Baby Avenues or Avenue Cribs, and they took their names from an even older gang that was called The Avenues.
Today, the Cribs are a gang that is spread all over the nation.
What Does The Crips Tattoo Mean?
You might have already noticed that there are people with tattoos that will indicate their own allegiance to a certain person, group, or gang.
However, you might be wondering what these gang tattoos actually mean. It doesn’t matter if the tattoo is in full color or solely black ink, these tattoos are often symbols for something greater.
More often than not, you will be able to find out what certain gang tattoos mean by looking them up on the internet.
When various gangs started to grow in America in the 1920s, tattoo art was something that was important to the members of such gangs.
This is a similar idea to personal tattoos, and gang tattoo designs became a way for members of the gang to highlight their allegiance to the group.
Almost every gang that exists will have some form of tattoo that connects them to the group and the Crips are one of them.
The Crips actually have various tattoos that are connected to the gang, and only some of them are to do with them disrespecting their rival gang, the Bloods.
An example of this is the tattooed number 211 on a Crip gang member, which stands for Blood Killer. The number 2 is representative of the letter B in the alphabet, whereas the number 11 is representative of the letter K in the alphabet.
Along the same lines as this, the numbers 3, 18, 9, and 16 spell out the word Crip.
Crips tattoos are typically made of 6 and 3 pointed crowns, or the letters IGC or BNC. IGC actually stands for Insane Gangster Crip, and BNC stands for Bad News Crip.
Codes symbols like these are very common among gang members. The Crips tattoo is a sign of acceptance that features an Old English and Gothic font. Many of these tattoos will only have the letter C in them as part of the design.
Frequently Asked Questions
Now that you know more about the origin of the Crips gang, as well as some of the different tattoos they might have and what they mean, you might be interested to learn the answers to some of the most frequently asked questions that we are going to explore below.
Why Do Gang Members Have Tattoos?
The main reason why members of a gang will have tattoos is so they can communicate their membership, rank, and even accomplishments, which can include murder, drug trafficking, and various other crimes.
It is also a way to highlight that they are a member of a group and is sometimes a requirement.
What Are The Crips Hand Tattoos?
Another tattoo that Crips members may have is of hands forming different coded symbols. They can be of various different hand shapes and can mean lots of different things.
More often than not, it will mean something to other members of the gang, even if it isn’t clear to everyone else, which is kind of the point.
What Does A Crip’s 5 Point Crown Tattoo Mean?
The symbol of a 5 point crown can be typically found tattooed on members of the Latin Kings gang, which is one of the largest Hispanic gangs in America.
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