在一些群体当中，刺青是一种勇气的表现，刺青能得与同侪的认同，在黑社会帮派中，有时刺青普遍来说，也是入会考验之一，因此给人刺青是与黑道中人挂钩的印象；在现代香港帮派成员中通常都在左臂上文一条青龙，右臂上文一只白老虎，因而有“左青龙，右白虎”这句话来代表黑社会份子。
In some groups, tattooing is a manifestation of courage, and it can gain recognition from peers. In triad gangs, sometimes tattooing is generally considered one of the entry tests, so it gives the impression that tattooing is linked to people in the underworld; In modern Hong Kong gang members, there is usually a green dragon above the left arm and a white tiger above the right arm, hence the phrase "left green dragon, right white tiger" is used to represent triads.
随着社会风气的开放，与身体展现的文化兴起，大家逐渐能接受身体的表现型式，爱好刺青者会组成联谊社团，定期举行展览会，将刺青图案社会艺术品，有名的刺青师傅也被视为艺术家，社会学 或人类学者也会以流行的角度来研究这种带有暴力色彩的流行文化。不少艺人会选择刺青来强调自己的个人风格，例如王菲与谢霆锋就曾经弄了一对“情侣装”的文身；贝克汉姆将爱妻维多利亚（Victoria）的名字用四个印度文字文在了左手前臂文上。
With the opening up of social atmosphere and the rise of culture that showcases the body, people are gradually able to accept the forms of body expression. Those who love tattooing will form social clubs and hold regular exhibitions to showcase tattoo patterns as social artworks. Famous tattoo masters are also considered artists, and sociologists or anthropologists will study this violent pop culture from a popular perspective. Many artists choose tattoos to emphasize their personal style, for example, Faye Wong and Nicholas Tse once had a pair of "couple outfits" tattoos; Beckham wrote the name of his beloved wife Victoria in four Indian characters on his left forearm.
国外文化
Foreign Culture
在西方社会中，那些喜欢文些新奇图案的往往就会文几个不一定连贯的中文字，例如NBA球员坎比（Marcus Camby）即在自己的右手上臂刺上“勉族”二字，以及NBA球员艾弗森（Allen Iverson）同样在自己脖子处刺有“忠”字。
In Western society, those who like to write novel patterns often write a few Chinese characters that are not necessarily coherent. For example, NBA player Marcus Camby tattooed the word "mian zu" on his right upper arm, and NBA player Allen Iverson also tattooed the word "zhong" on his neck.