&gt;The difference it that in Russia&#x2F;USSR it was taken more seriously, became more formalized<p>in particular many tattoos serve the role similar to military insignia and one just isn&#x27;t allowed (i.e. would be punished severely) to wear symbols or the number of it which doesn&#x27;t match his&#x2F;her position in the hierarchy (which is pretty firmly enforced multi-level developed one in the Russian prisons) or his&#x2F;her history like number of prison terms served and severity of the crimes committed.