How unusual is it for a world leader to have a tattoo? It's difficult to definitely say that no prominent current heads of state ...
How unusual is it for a world leader to have a tattoo? It's
difficult to definitely say that no prominent current heads of state
have tattoos. If they do, they keep them covered up. Justin Tradeau may be the only one presently with one. While some Canadians were
marvelling at the size of Justin Trudeau's election victory - helping
the Liberal Party turn a wipeout in 2011 into an overall majority -
others were focusing on the 43-year-old'smuscular body and a large
tattoo on his left arm. Could he, they ask, be the only major world
leader with a tattoo?
The tattoo image is of a raven, it has been getting a lot of attention on social media since the election night. Meg Shuler tweeted "OH that IS a Raven tattoo! This guy seems interesting," and another individual known as Aveek tweeted . "Is Justin Trudeau the first Western leader to have a tattoo?" Quite a number of people have also wondered about this.
The design is taken from the Haida people indigenous to Canada's Pacific north-west. The Liberal Party leader revealed in 2012. "My tattoo is planet Earth inside a Haida raven. The globe I got when I was 23; the Robert Davidson raven for my 40th birthday,". The design was soon on full public view when he fought a charity boxing match against political rival, Patrick Brazeau, and surprised many by winning.
The Trudeau family were made honorary members of the Haida tribe in 1976 during the second prime ministerial term of Trudeau's father, Pierre so there seems to be a connection behind the choice of the haida symbol. There have been plenty of tattooed world leaders in the past. Russian Tsar Nicholas II had a dragon inscribed on his arm during a visit to Japan in 1891, while King Alexander of Yugoslavia had a large heraldic eagle tattooed over his chest. King Frederick IX of Denmark acquired a number of naval-themed tattoos in the navy. Also British Monarchs George V and Edward VII both had a Jerusalem cross tattooed on their arm to mark their pilgrimage to the city, while it's often reported that former UK Prime Minister Winston Churchill had an anchor - although the Churchill Centre says it has found no evidence to support this.
In the United States, president Teddy Roosevelt had his family crest tattooed on his chest, while James Polk supposedly had a Chinese character that translated to "eager", and Andrew Jackson was said to have a tomahawk inked on his thigh.
Friedman says."The interesting thing about Trudeau is he has been very willing to put his tattoo out there in the public eye, he also doesn't seem to be afraid to be a bit edgy."
