User:GoodSirJava/Gang Signals



Every gang has a way of identifying itself to both its members and its rivals. Traditionally, these signals or signs have manifested themselves in gang-related attire, tattoos, graffiti, and hand signs. Although some signals and signs are fairly standard among larger gangs, many change from neighborhood to neighborhood or subgroup (set) to subgroup.

Clothing
Many gangs identify with a particular color and display that color by flashing it. This is commonly done by wearing or displaying a colored T-shirt, bandanna, hat, or belt. Some colors commonly associated with major gangs are blue with the Crips and Sureños, and red with Bloods and Norteños. In recent times, due to increased vigilance by community members and law enforcement officers, more subtle patterns have been adopted, such as wearing a colored t-shirt under a white or black one, wearing clothing with colored details or insignias, or flashing using shoelaces.

In addition, some gangs associate the manner in which an article is worn to designate membership, such as a hat tilted to the left or to the right, or a bandanna of any color hanging from the left or right side of the rear pants pocket.

Tattoos
Tattoos have long been associated with gang membership, and connote the toughness desired by gang members as well as the permanence of gang affiliation. The designs used are frequently very symbolic and often occur again and again in the symbology of a particular gang, with some variation from area to area or to represent particular deeds (murder being one example).

The gang symbols used in tattoos and graffiti (below) are sometimes fairly involved, and often refer to the mythology and meaning that a gang may invent for itself. For example, the six pointed star represents the Folk Nation once led by a man known as King David. In addition, each point of the star represents a "value" of the "nation." Norteños, commonly associated with Nuestra Familia use the numbers 14 and 4 to refer to themselves, using the fact that N is the 14th letter of the alphabet.

Graffiti
Graffiti has also long been seen as a gang activity, and is most related to the fact that many gangs have particular areas that they try to control. As above, the graffiti is often very symbolic and may contain more information, such as what activities the gang participates in and with whom they are at war. However, while gangs may bring graffiti, often graffiti is not the result or an indicator of significant gang activity.

Hand signs
"Throwing up" a gang sign with the hands is one of the most known and obvious forms of "claiming." It is used in many situations where other identifiers may not be possible or appropriate, and can also show that a gang member is in the area to "do business" as opposed to just passing through. Usually these signs are made by formation of the fingers on one or both hands to make some sort of symbol or letter. It can also serve to relay more specific information, such as what set they represent within a larger gang or in which activities they are currently taking part. These signs, because they are displayed only when wanted (as opposed to the types of identifiers above) are usually the most consistent across various areas. Many of these hand signals are quite close to other common hand signs, and this can cause confusion amongst gang members, non-gang members, and anti-gang authorities.