Do people get themselves tattooed only for cosmetic reasons? No, some of us may think like that, but there are many reasons and intentions behind this art of tattooing!

In different places and cultures, tattoos stand for different motives and send different messages. For someone they are marks of status and rank or decoration of bravery! While they are pledges of love or memories of loved ones for some. Religious people like to wear them to show their faith while some may have magical reasons!

While for all these it is a proud show, some may get tattooed as the mark of punishment, outcasts, slaves and convicts! Some people get tattooed to show the indication of their belonging to the specific groups. And these groups are not only criminal gangs but also some ethnic group or law-abiding subculture.

Some reasons of tattooing –

1. Identification:-  

We all know about Jews and the concentration camps during holocaust. In these camps, the Jews were forcibly tattooed so that they will be identified easily. This is the best example of identification system.

Group members are tattooed to identify their belonging to that group. Some Ma-ori still choose to wear intricate moko on their faces

Do you know that these tattoo pigments are buried deep enough in the skin? So these tattoos do not get destroyed by severe burns also.

So, many military members will have tattoos as an identification mark. These tattoos will be on their ribs. The tattoos are called known as “meat tags”.

The tattoos also help forensic pathologists in identifying burned, mutilated and rotten bodies.

2. Cosmetic:-

Tattooing is used as a permanent makeup. It is used to enhance your eyebrows, as a permanent liner or lipstick for your lips. Or it is used as eyeliner or even as a mole! Natural colors help these tattoos to look like make up!

Tattooing is also used to hide or reduce the effect of skin problems like discolorations.

Tattooing is very helpful to improve your appearance but it can be dangerous too! Sometimes iron oxide is used for these purposes. Later if you undergo magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), it can cause injury to you.

3. Medical:-

Medical tattooing has been used to pass on medical information about the wearer. Besides this tattoos could be used for covering hemangiomas (pink/red skin lesions also known as portwine stains), color changes in the lips after facial surgery, and masking themottled-skin appearance of vitiligo. Medical tattoos are used to ensure instruments are properly located for repeated application of radiotherapy and for the areola in some forms of breast reconstruction.

4. Tattooing in animals:-

We also tattoo the animals. Sometimes for decorative purpose, sometimes as identification mark. Horses, livestock, show animals and pets are some examples. The serial numbers are tattooed usually in the ear or on the inner thigh. The owners can easily identify their pets due to these marks.

In case of animals, tattoos are also used to avoid some kind of injuries. Like, they are tattooed on nose to avoid sunburns.

Branding is also similar kind of tattooing. The difference is that while tattooing ink or color is used. In branding no ink or color is used.

5. Protection:-

Protection is also one of the grounds for tattooing. In Laos, Cambodia, and Thailand many people wore a yantra tattoo. They believe that it protects them from evil and increases their luck!

Thus this art of tattooing is for everyone who has different reasons, motives. It is for a criminal who want to identify himself as well as for a young girl who just want to look more beautiful! They display your personal feelings for loved ones as well as hated ones!