five dots tattoo

{{Short description|Tattoo with various meanings}}

File:5 dots tattoo.svg

The five dots tattoo is a tattoo of five dots arranged in a quincunx, usually on the outer surface of the hand, between the thumb and the index finger. The tattoo has different meanings in different cultures—it has been variously interpreted as a fertility symbol,{{citation|title=Tattoo history: a source book : an anthology of historical records of tattooing throughout the world|first=Steve|last=Gilbert|publisher=Juno Books|year=2000|isbn=978-1-890451-06-6|page=[https://archive.org/details/tattoohistorysou0000gilb/page/153 153]|url=https://archive.org/details/tattoohistorysou0000gilb/page/153}}. a reminder of sayings on how to treat women or police, a way members of People Nation or Nuestra Familia affiliated gangs identify (People gangs identify with the number 5, while Folk Nation gangs use 6), a recognition symbol among the Romani people,{{citation|title=Kishkindha|first=Robert|last=Turner|publisher=Osiris Press Ltd|year=2005|isbn=978-1-905315-05-5|page=53|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cnxh8vR2HzQC&pg=PA53}}. a group of close friends,{{citation|title=A law enforcement sourcebook of Asian crime and cultures: tactics and mindsets|first=Douglas D.|last=Daye|publisher=CRC Press|year=1997|isbn=978-0-8493-8116-4|page=113|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Z0k0kTGivP4C&pg=PA113}}. standing alone in the world,{{citation|title=A rainbow of gangs: street cultures in the mega-city|first=James Diego|last=Vigil|publisher=University of Texas Press|year=2002|isbn=978-0-292-78749-0|page=115|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0qKcorWNve0C&pg=PA115}}. or time spent in prison (with the outer four dots representing the prison walls and the inner dot representing the prisoner).{{citation|title=Russian criminal tattoo encyclopedia, Volume 3|first=Danzig|last=Baldayev|publisher=FUEL Publishing|year=2006|page=214}}. Thomas Edison had this pattern tattooed on his forearm.{{citation|title=The Pocket Idiot's Guide to Not So Useless Facts|first1=Dane|last1=Sherwood|first2=Sandy|last2=Wood|first3=Kara|last3=Kovalchik|publisher=Penguin|year=2006|isbn=978-1-59257-567-1|page=48|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9F6Xq8WtmeMC&pg=PT48}}.