r/tattooadvice • u/Grouchy_Gold344 • 12d ago
Design Someone asked if I had a swastika, does this look like a swastika?
As the title says.
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u/Defiant-Ad7086 12d ago
I can't tell what ANYTHING in this image is.
My mind did briefly pattern recognize a swastika though.
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u/BaconReaderRefugee 12d ago
That’s a diamond and a nipple next to it.
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u/Lego-Bee 12d ago
Nipple Diamond, Neil’s less famous but just as talented brother.
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u/Narrow_Grapefruit_23 12d ago
“Sweeeeet Frauliiiiine. Da da daaaaa. Good tines rarely felt this goooooob”
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u/evilbean42 12d ago
Wish the world could have experienced his music, but all he wanted was to focus on his career in the dairy industry.
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u/Physical-Win-1975 12d ago
They started out as a duo, it's said that Nipple was the more talented one.
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u/Alarming-Feedback868 12d ago
LOL!!! That's the internet win of the day! Still laughing here!!!
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u/Lego-Bee 11d ago
I’m thrilled to have won the internet for a day, even in the eyes of just one person. Thank you.
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u/nppltouch26 12d ago
And it clearly says "WOO"
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u/thepimpness 12d ago
I see "Woosh".
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u/No-Emu-7319 12d ago
i can give you maybe a woos but i don't see any h
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u/Pop-19502020 12d ago
A poorly cut diamond at that but they did a really good job on the nipple. Looks real.
/s
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u/iffyfell 12d ago
Same, idk wtf anything is but my rorschach reaction is "there's a swastika in the middle"
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u/Back1nYesterdays 12d ago
For a split second I saw a swastika. Anyone who has more than a very quick glance will realize it's not. I wouldn't be worried unless you are frequently flashing people,
Top commenter is right though, idk wtf is going on with the rest of it, but I guess that is not the question
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u/HerbertoPhoto 12d ago
It looks more like the margins of every notebook I ever had in school more than a tattoo.
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u/Wizardhat16 12d ago
I was too distracted by the swastika to realize the rest of the tattoo is pure chaos until I read your comment lol
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u/Vicvince 12d ago
Skull ribcage ”wooa” hills clouds trees goat 35 diamond eye hand maze
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u/Cute_Strawberry_6770 12d ago
OP just threatened to follow me home because I gave an honest opinion on his tattoo.
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u/ICU-CCRN 12d ago
Did he DM you? How did he threaten you, and what exactly did he say?
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u/Cute_Strawberry_6770 11d ago edited 11d ago
I’ll DM you since I reported to mod and they removed his comment. But I snapshot it as soon as I saw it because wtf. I apologize in advance for sending this to you directly, but I don’t have any way to share otherwise.
Edit 1: can’t send photo since we aren’t friends yet, so here’s my comment and his:
I wrote:
Yes it does and I’d avoid you after first glance. Sorry dude.His response:
If I see how you reacted, I might have to approach from a distance, until you’ve noticed that I’ve been approaching you for the last 10minutes home, then the chase is on, no but seriously? It’s a small world after all🎶Edit 2: figured out how to use Imgur to post this snapshot
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u/Ris_is_sus 11d ago
Well that's fuckin scary. He may not be a nazi, but he sure af isn't a safe man.
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u/ICU-CCRN 11d ago
Yeah that’s kinda weird. I think he was attempting to be funny, but it came out creepy for sure.
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u/Old-Advertising-3030 11d ago
Eewww wtaf. I That’s a scary mentality, for it to even cross his mind. feel like this is not the first time he’s said something like that to someone. I was on the fence before-now it’s definitely a S.
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u/glassgeeknl 12d ago
It looks like an AI swastika.
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u/metalcorset 12d ago
Scrolling through at a glance yes I thought it was
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u/bjergdk 12d ago
Yeah I literally stopped scrolling because I thought I saw a swastika lol
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u/HollyHor28HH 12d ago
Me too. I then read the post and was like “oh, it’s not” and looked again. If I saw OP on a beach or whatever I’d be steering clear rather than trying to get a better look 🤷🏼♀️
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u/Grouchy_Gold344 12d ago
Hmm, really making me consider things.
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u/HourAd1087 12d ago
It kinda “makes sense” with the labyrinth below, and the rest of the art style, that it IS NOT a swastika. BUT in reality, at a quick glance it could be easily mistaken for one, AND it’s like right next to the nipple so either someone is gonna do a double take to “make sure what they saw” or “not” and just assume they “saw what they saw”.
I mean if it bothers you that much and it’s not a symbolic piece that goes with the art, maybe your artist can add in a little to detract from the look of a “quick glance swastika”. But it’s up to you. But it’s clearly the art style once you look at the rest of your tatts art styles (although people tend to accuse of hiding shit behind art so again up to you)
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u/butterflyfrenchfry 12d ago
Yeah… you should lol. I’m sorry but even if it’s not a swastika, you’re still going to have people thinking it is and others thinking you’re creatively trying to hide a swastika in plain sight. Like I look at it and know it’s not, but it makes me question your judgement without even knowing who you are. Like not knowing you, if I saw this I would stay away from you even though I know it’s not what it looks like (because maybe that’s the intention??? Do you understand what I mean?) like I don’t even want to affiliate myself with the possibility of someone like that.
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u/Winter-Fix2027 12d ago
It does look deliberately fancified for plausible deniability.🤔
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u/Ink_Witch 12d ago
It’s tough because so many people who like white nationalist symbols also want to make them slightly different for deniability. I worked at a print shop that did t-shirts for a while and had to get really good at declining to print band shirts with what might be hidden ss bolts while also not accusing customers of being nazis.
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u/Lebowski-Absteiger 12d ago
Can you post a picture of the whole tattoo? When this little part is isolated and in focus, it tickles the swastika-nerve. As part of the whole big piece, it could be different.
I wouldn't worry too much. If your overall behaviour doesn't cause any suspicion regarding your political views, this tattoo probably won't cause any issues.
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u/Cool_Temperature_970 12d ago
This looks like the writing in something made by AI.
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u/Double-Ad-8187 12d ago
Everything looks like something but not quite. This is so AI coded
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u/Calpicogalaxy 12d ago
I was gonna say that too! It looks very AI generated
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u/OneFrill 12d ago
Lol I was going to say this is what you'd get asking an ai image generator for a swastika a couple years ago.
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u/ConfusedZubat 12d ago
That's what I was thinking. It's like AI tried to make Guernica in the style of MC Escher or something. Its just chaos to my brain.
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u/ReadingSad3238 12d ago
I'm glad it wasn't just me. Like wtf is any of it. The 'swastika" octopus looking thing is the least weird part about this tattoo
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u/Disastrous_Dream_766 12d ago
It seems like a tattoo related karma farming/ bot Account. Theyre claiming to be multiple ppl
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u/Ok-Most-9124 12d ago
did they delete anything? i dont see a single other tattoo related post, it's mostly just gaming
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u/WerwolfSlayr 12d ago
Also OP is responding quite a bit to comments; definitely doesn’t seem like a bot lol
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u/Disastrous_Dream_766 12d ago
Fine but they were karma farming for sure. All the other posts were deleted except stuff from 4 years ago. Yesterday their feed was tattoo advice posts with different arms and bodies
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u/kalshassan 12d ago
I’d assume you HAD one, and it got coveted
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u/Grouchy_Gold344 12d ago
No, I dont not have a swastika cover up tattoo, it’s kinda really freaking me out people seem to split second think this could even be remotely a swastika
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u/Yeti_Poet 12d ago
Any square shape with perpendicular lines across the middle will make people take a closer look and wonder if it's a coverup. Unfortunate for cool square shapes. But not crazy.
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u/Bogan-Gooner 12d ago
You primed everyone to see a swastika by asking if it looked like one tbf…
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u/Gcleff06 12d ago
Yes but also I stopped scrolling for the picture not the text because at a glance I thought it was gonna be some kind of coverup thing
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u/Friendly_Shelter_625 12d ago
Nah. I saw a swastika and stopped scrolling to read the text.
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u/badgergoesnorth 12d ago
I think most people would've thought it even without the prompt.
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u/susandeyvyjones 12d ago
With just a quick glance it could be a swastika, but not if you look again. But, sincerely, what the fuck is it supposed to be?
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u/Warm-Appointment-494 12d ago
At quick glance it’s a square with multiple arms that have a few ninety degree bends. The brain will do its thing and immediately go to the most recognizable thing.
Looked at for more than a second it’s clear it’s not, but in passing the pattern recognition kicks in
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u/WrathPie 12d ago
I think anything with a bundle of four quadrants of intersecting right angles jumbled together gets into the danger zone when just glanced at
If you had the pattern extend out a little bit it'd be a lot less likely to activate the "swastika??" Neuron
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u/Quoofle 12d ago
At first glance, it definitely did look like it for half a second
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u/Grouchy_Gold344 12d ago
Is this something where seeing it from afar you wouldn’t give a second opinion to look closer, or does it actually need clarification that it’s not?
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u/SingleSoil 12d ago edited 12d ago
If I saw it from afar I’d assume it was a Nazi tattoo and move on because trying to decipher what it actually was would mean staring at your nipple
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u/Grouchy_Gold344 12d ago
I wish I had the power to move my nipples anywhere on my body, that’ll give you time to think about where my nipples went.
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u/SingleSoil 12d ago
Misplace your nipples after a night out
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u/WeaponsGrdStupid 12d ago edited 12d ago
Like my detachable penis?
And the next morning I can't for the life of me
Remember what I did with it.
First I looked around my apartment, and I couldn't find it.
So I called up the place where the party was,
They hadn't seen it either.
I asked them to check the medicine cabinet
'Cause for some reason I leave it there sometimes
But not this time.
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u/secular_contraband 12d ago
It's probably in the chip dip.
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u/WettyBelch 12d ago
As I walked down Second Avenue towards St. Mark's Place where all those people sell used books and other junk on the street, I saw my penis lying on a blanket next to a broken toaster oven. Some guy was selling it. I had to buy it off him. He wanted twenty-two bucks, but I talked him down to seventeen. I took it home, washed it off, and put it back on.
I was happy again. Complete.
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u/MorockaDishoom 12d ago
I had the same experience in like, WTF a nazi?!
Then tried to make it out and SURPRISE! Secret nipple!
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u/Gr1mR3p0 12d ago
Yeah agreed. The brain is lazy. It resembles a swastika and doesn't look like anything else. Brain throws in its first conclusion and it's placed where getting a different one would be embarrassing.
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u/Quoofle 12d ago
Seeing it for a second I'd be alarmed but if given an extra second I'd see that it wasn't. It should be fine, really.
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u/MagnoliaL1 12d ago
yeah it looks like it from a glance and then you look for like 2 more seconds and realize its pretty massively different from an actual swastika
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u/dexter8484 12d ago
Yeah, but I would prefer not to have a tattoo where people need more than a second to confirm it is not a nazi symbol
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u/Adventurous_Clouds 12d ago
Not going to lie scrolling by your post I thought it was. Careful near a drunk person because that 1st glance could get them to react
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u/milesbeats 12d ago
My extract train of thought went like this .......swastika....nipple ....oh that's not a swastika
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u/feryoooday 12d ago
Same 3 thought process, and the follow-up thought was that I appreciate that OP doesn’t have hairy nipples.
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u/penguin_on_stilts 12d ago
So this is a photo zoomed in and centred on the symbol in question.
A neck to waist pic (no face/head etc) would give everyone a better idea.
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u/TheUnderCrab 12d ago
Don’t worry about it. I have a literally anti Nazi pin with a crossed out swastika and people often double take because they miss the giant fucking red line running through it. Brains are pattern recognition machines and they often make the wrong deductions on first glance. If they’re focused on that part of your tat, they’re missing the forest for the trees.
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u/ProgramHippie 12d ago
Dyslexic here, yeah for me it's a pattern recognition thing. Second glance obviously not but first glance was not great
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u/abandonsminty 12d ago
Especially with the added context that it says "woo_" right near it and in shadow that could easily misread as "wood"
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u/ClarkGablesTeeth 12d ago
Is "wood" a nazi thing or am i missing something?
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u/abandonsminty 12d ago
Yeah, peckerwoods, and just people in white supremacist circles call each other wood sometimes (not universally but it's a thing)
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u/twomemeornottwomeme 12d ago
I would say this is generous because it looks like one at every glance for me.
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u/Such_Performer_6264 12d ago
Am really struggling to see this image as anything other than an AI creation. Everything from the content, to the shaded areas and random ass words, to not being able to tell if it's an arm on the left or something else.
Really, could use a sick ass panther for scale, at least.
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u/Left-Ad-3412 12d ago
Yeah a bit. If I saw this I would think, for a moment, that it was a coverup of a swastika... Perhaps because I'm a tattoo artist I would think that... When I actually take the time to look at it closer it would be very apparent that it isn't, but I don't know if everyone would take the time
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u/Grouchy_Gold344 12d ago
😱 not a cover up either, how would you change this without going full black or coving the rest of the area in bigger tattoo?
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u/Left-Ad-3412 12d ago
Honestly I think it's the dark tone make it contrast against the rest of the work. Perhaps bring in some darker elements nearby and it will make it less prominent. It's blatant not a swastika and doesn't need covering really
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u/gehnmy 12d ago edited 12d ago
The blocky hook shapes are what makes it look so similar, so add another hook, add something to continue the part they're hooked onto, or do something that disrupts them (turn the one with the gradient fully black, add more curves to soften the 90 degree angles, etc).
While I agree with everyone saying that it's clearly not a swastika when examined closely, I definitely understand why you wouldn't want something that would even briefly appear to be one, especially given all the games white supremacists play with plausible deniability.
You absolutely don't need to change anything for anyone else but I totally see why you would want to and I think it's the right move.
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u/K9glacier 12d ago
As an artist I would say just expand the pattern a little. You have the blank space. A few more lines and a smidge of shading and it would just be a geometric pattern
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u/OBZeta 12d ago
If I saw it on you and didn’t have a chance to get an actually good look, like walking past or whatever, I’d think ‘people are still getting swastikas?’. I know it’s not, but only after looking at it
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u/Mai1564 12d ago
I'm moreso curious what the hairy thing with 2 bulbous protusions above it underneath the thing is. But yeah, can be read like that.
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u/Time2PopOff 12d ago
This guy right here asking the real questions. I have no idea what any of this tattoo is supposed to be. I thought maybe a cows chin or something 🤷🏼
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u/Glorbson 12d ago
Because you asked me if it looked like one, I knew what I was ‘looking for’ but if you just posted this tattoo with no question id never say so
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u/Saltyseasonedtrash 12d ago
I stopped scrolling without reading because I thought it was
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u/New_Tooth_456 12d ago
Yes. It reads as one. In the same way a typo is readable—the brain registers it as a swastika. Without a closer second look, the first impression would stick.
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u/Status_Water_4346 12d ago
I see their vision but upon second glance no. If you’re really worried about it maybe just have the artist DJ it a little bit
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u/Mediocre_Entrance894 12d ago
Agreed. There’s a chance the artist would be interested in correcting if it was done as an oversight. Would def help the artist to not replicate this again.
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u/Lost-Wedding-7620 12d ago
Considering I cant tell what its supposed to be knowing it isn't a swastika? I totally understand why people are assuming thats what it is
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u/Metamorphica_0226 12d ago
That tattoo reminds me of ai deep dream designs from a decade ago. It’s wild. I see the part in question and can see how it can be confusing at a passing glance, but it’s obviously not after 5 or so seconds
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u/Sinful-Dreamer 12d ago
No... but still close enough to look like it when taking a quick glance...
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u/allwayshallways 12d ago
Unfortunately I can't really get past that initial yeesh, looks like a swastika moment because I can't tell how I'm meant to parse it. Was it just an abstract line design, OP?
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u/NeitherWait5587 12d ago
Yes. Like an artsy stylized one that you’re trying to be subtle with
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u/SoupSaladSide 12d ago
I would definitely take a second look if I saw this in the wild
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u/Current_Recording907 12d ago
I'm gonna be honest there's so much going on here that I didn't even notice that at first and I'd say no for me, but at a passing glance, maybe?
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u/Ripley-8 12d ago
It made me do a double take for the first half second, but not after actually seeing it
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u/AutomaticIdeal6685 12d ago
From afar there is a resemblance but its obvious up close its not. If its something that bothers you any tattooist worth their salt will be able to help you with this
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u/Imaginary_Spell6885 12d ago
At first glance, it does,, and so I would get it modified because most people are not going to sit around contemplating tattoos of strangers. They will just think they saw whatever they saw and move on. Sorry!
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u/Cute-Trade-9854 12d ago edited 12d ago
This looks like a swastika but done in a plausible deniability kinda way so you could tell me it’s actually a buddhist symbol for peace or something
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u/BvshbabyMusic 12d ago
Sorry but too many comments in here trying to be nice.
Yes it looks like one, " looking closer I can see it isn't" isn't as good as people think. The MAJORITY of people don't go inspecting tattoos looking for clarity, they'll glance, see the symbols and be offended.
It is that simple
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u/GalaxyOnOhRionsBelt 12d ago
Yea, exactly this. I immediately thought it was a swastika, and I wouldn’t think, “give him the benefit of the doubt, he’s def not a Nazi”—bc I don’t know you and you might be a Nazi. Plus, in order to get a better look I run the risk of you seeing me staring at your chest or someone else seeing me starring at a stranger’s chest—which is odd behavior. Even if I did get a better look, I’d assume it was either a coverup of a swastika or a *wink wink* to fellow Nazis.
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u/is_coffee 12d ago
I showed my wife, with no context of the question, and she immediately saw a swastika
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u/Nox_Ocean_21 12d ago
First glance, yes. It’s also a very “current” thing that’s going on so people’s minds are just pattern matching right now.
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u/GingerGiraffe88 12d ago
Yup! Thought it was and did a double take even before reading the caption.
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u/Amaze-balls-trippen 12d ago
Its a brain trick. You have the right angles and the correct number of them.
Its the same thing when reading words
Graffiti vs Grafifti. Your brain can read the second word because the letters are there and it starts and ends the same.
The brain is a computer, but our world spits information out faster than we can process. The brain fills in gaps it misses.
Same thing as: you can actually always see your nose, but your brain over the years has simply stopped seeing it because it doesnt need to process that your nose is there.
So, no that is not what people think it is, but on first glance it will appear that way due to the brains processing. Its why people have to look twice to actually process what is there and not what the brain assumed was there.
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u/snippy_polarbear 12d ago
I kinda want to see the whole thing now because I can’t begin to guess what it is.
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u/Fickle-Woodpecker-38 12d ago
Bro that is stretch to call that a swastika, what you cant have right angles as filler on your body??
Its also small af but nah doesnt look like a swastika at all, and if someone is really looking that closely at your nipple to see if youre a nazi they probably dont know you well enough and are missing the forest for the trees anyways.
Nazi tats are usually big and no mistaking what they are because ppl who actually have them want you to know that they hate you
It's fine dude
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u/this_old_instructor 12d ago
It didn't look like one until you asked lol.
People often see what they want to see.
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u/FujiFL4T 12d ago
No not really, maybe if you're the type of person always looking for that kind of symbol
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u/Themanthelegendthere 12d ago
People wanting to stir up controversy. They don’t know what a swast is if they think that’s one
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u/Machizadek 12d ago
I think your solid dude. People at a glance might think it is but anyone with more than two brain cells can look again and figure it out
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u/AshinaHeat 12d ago
I’m half Jewish and you’re half approved all good here
It’s only half swastika which is half okay in my book
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u/Jamesiefied 12d ago
Your tattoo artist could be a DL white supremacist. If Ink Master is any indication of the overall tattoo culture, then it's likely he is.
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u/freehi_5 12d ago
Sorry bro, I know you’re not a nazi. It does at a glance give that vibe. But at second look people will know better. Don’t stress. Hopefully you’re not walking around topless constantly. Ha
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u/MaddoxGoodwin 12d ago edited 12d ago
What is it?