The meaning behind the tattoos of outlaw motorcycle gang members
JUST like club colours, outlaw bikie gangs and tattoos goes hand-in-hand. The Daily Telegraph has collected and broken down the ink from different clubs across the city.
NSW
Don't miss out on the headlines from NSW. Followed categories will be added to My News.
OUTLAW motorcycle gangs (OMCGs) are among the most identifiable components of Australia’s underworld, often seen sporting club colours and tattoos.
Those wanting to join the club first start as a “nominee” and are required to go through a series of tests to prove loyalty to the gang.
MORE: INSIDE THE SECRET WORLD OF BIKIES
The clubs usually require people to be nominees for 24 months before they have “earned” the “exclusivity and entitlement” of becoming a full patch member — a vest containing the top and bottom rockers, and club logo.
MORE: BIKIE BOSS SHARES RULES FOR CIVILIANS
And just like members must earn the right to wear the club colours, the same rules apply for getting tattoos related to the outlaw motorcycle gang culture.
A 400-page police dossier detailing the secret inner workings of Australia’s bikie gangs highlighted the strict rules around the tattoos club members can get.
The Finks, for example, stipulate members can’t get any kind of bikie tattoo until they’ve been a member for at least one year, and are required to ride with the gang for five years before they can acquire a “small” club tattoo.
And only life members — those who have served for 10 years at least — can “acquire a full back tattoo depicting Finks colours”.
Most gang members are also required to have their tattoos removed if they leave a club and in the case of the Hells Angels, exiting gang members have to get an “X” tattooed on them with the date they left.
“The limitations placed on who is allowed to acquire and display a ‘Finks’ tattoo again reinforces the attitudes of ‘exclusivity’ of membership,” the police dossier explains.
In December last year, a former Finks bikie was beaten, burnt, stabbed and sexually assaulted in a Sydney hotel in an ordeal lasting 12 hours.
MORE: HOW THE REBELS DISHES JUSTICE
MORE: REBELS TRIBUTE TO SLAIN BIKIE BROTHER
Detective Superintendent Deb Wallace said police alleged during the attack, the victim had boiling water poured over his upper body to remove his club tattoo because he was either planning to leave or being kicked out of the gang.
“When you leave a club on bad standing, or in good standing, you must remove all identifiers that you have been a member of that outlaw motorcycle gang,” she told reporters. “If you don’t remove it they will remove it by force.”
WHAT DO THE TATTOOS MEAN?
Despite the different clubs, a lot of bikie tattoos have similar themes and meanings. Here is the definitive guide for understanding underworld tattoos:
1% The symbol used exclusively by OMCGs to identify themselves as the one-percent of motorbike riders that are not law abiding citizens. The symbol is almost always used to classify a motorcycle club as “outlaw”.
FTW: Acronym for the phrase “F*** the world”.
O. F. F. O: An acronym used by bikie clubs which stands for O (gang’s initial) F (Forever) F (Forever) O (gang’s initials) — for example RFFR for Rebels, BFFB for Bandidos and AFFA for Hells Angels.
13: A common number featured on gang patches and tattoos. The number 13 resembles the letter “M”, which can stand for a number of things including “motorcycle”, “marijuana” or “methylamphetamine”.
CLUB LOGO/NAME: Bikies will often get a tattoo of their club’s logo or name on their body. Examples include the Rebels “death head” and flag or The Finsk “Wizard of Id”.
GUNS: Firearms are a significant part of the OMCG culture and are often symbolised on their clubhouses, clothing and tattoos.
SMILE NOW, CRY LATER: This tattoo contains comedy and tragedy theatre masks. Adopted by gangsters, the common meaning is about living life to the fullest because death or prison could be just around the corner.
WIRED FENCE/PRISON BARS: Wired fences and prison bars are used to represent time spent locked up in prison.
HARLEY DAVIDSON: For a long time Harley Davidson motorcycles were the only truly accepted model of motorcycle for bikies to ride, so many tattoos point reference to this connection.
TRIBUTES: Bikies will often pay tributes to their fallen brothers with portraits and names often followed by “R.I.P.”.
CASH: Tattoos of money are often a display of wealth or used to represent aspirations to become rich.
OMERTA: An Italian noun meaning secrecy sworn to by oath; code of silence. It was made popular by the Italian mafia and represents silence when questioned by law enforcement on the subject of alleged illegal activities.
“BROTHER’S KEEPER” & “ONE IN, ALL IN”: Terms that are widely used the OMCG environment advertising the concept of an organised group whose membership is invested in protecting the exclusivity of membership.
NOT GUILTY: The tattoo is used to demonstrate they are innocent of crimes they might have been alleged to have committed.
SPECIAL INVESTIGATION
► CHAPTER ONE: Inside the squad that beat Sydney’s gangs
► CHAPTER TWO: The real-life police fight club
