Prison Ring Tattoos Explained (1-12): Meanings, Symbols, and Hierarchy

1. White cross on a black background.
Means that the wearer served a sentence for robbery. A gopnik’s ring.

2. “Parashnik” tattoo — a convict from the group of the offended.
The ring is applied forcibly. It is often used to mark card-game debtors.
Upon release from prison, the wearer usually paints over the white triangle, imitating the tattoo “Released by the bell” (see No. 46).

3. “Passed through Kresty.”
Refers to the Kresty pre-trial detention center in Saint Petersburg. A crown may be placed above the ring. This tattoo is also found among women.

4. White diagonal stripe and crescent on a black background.
Means “Served time in a strict-regime correctional labor facility.” A Muslim inmate’s ring.

5. “Sins of youth.”
Prison experience began in a juvenile correctional labor colony.

6. “ZLO” (“Precepts of a beloved father”).
A symbol of family ties or a criminal dynasty.

7. “Stepped onto the thieves’ path.”
Convicted of theft.

8. Female tattoo. “Alone among thieves.”
Served a sentence for hooliganism.

9. “I will not shake a cop’s hand.”

10. “Passed through a bitch zone.”
The wearer served time in a correctional facility where power was held by activists cooperating with the administration.

11. “Polish thief.”
The wearer is a former thief-in-law who renounced the traditions of the thieves’ brotherhood.
The upper number indicates the sentence length, the lower number indicates the number of convictions.

12. The “muzhik” ring — an inmate who maintains neutrality inside the prison.