We’ll give you the fingers, Coast Guard tells tattooed recruits, but not the face
The U.S. Coast Guard is getting hip with the times.
Under a new tattoo policy announced Thursday, the next class of recruits will be allowed a little more visible ink on their body — just not the face.
“I am pleased to see the Coast Guard’s new tattoo policy reinforces a professional appearance to the public while adopting some of the very same tattoo standards that are now acceptable among the public,” Jason Vanderhaden, master chief petty officer of the Coast Guard, said in a statement.
Recruits will be permitted one hand tattoo and one finger tattoo per hand, the Coast Guard said.
Members of the Coast Guard were previously not allowed any visible tattoos on their hands — the only exception being “a single tattoo in the form of a ring,” according to policy documents from prior years.
Officials’ latest rewrite stretches those allowances for one finger tattoo between the first and second knuckle, but thumbs are off limits.
A hand tattoo smaller than one inch is allowed, but not on the palm.
Vanderhaden said he hopes the new policy will grow the recruitment pool and give those serving “a few new options.”
Tattoos on the neck and face, however, are still barred.
The Coast Guard also bans any tattoos perceived as racist, discriminatory, indecent, extremist or supremacist, lawless, violent or sexually explicit.
Previous examples of barred “content” include Nazi symbols, nooses, spiderwebs and the number 14.
This story was originally published October 3, 2019 at 7:00 PM with the headline "We’ll give you the fingers, Coast Guard tells tattooed recruits, but not the face."
