US

Got ink? US Navy is relaxing its rules on tattoos

There will be no limit to the size or number of tattoos below the elbow and the knee

A sailor shows his tattoo: the US Navy is loosening its rules on tattoos in response to their growing popularity among young people and to remove a potential barrier for recruits. Photograph: Hiroko Masuike/The New York Times
A sailor shows his tattoo: the US Navy is loosening its rules on tattoos in response to their growing popularity among young people and to remove a potential barrier for recruits. Photograph: Hiroko Masuike/The New York Times
Sat Apr 30 2016 - 01:00

The US navy is loosening its rules governing tattoos in response to their growing popularity among young people and to remove a potential barrier for recruits.Under the new rules, there will be no limit to the size or number of tattoos sailors can have below the elbow and the knee.

A Harris Poll found three in 10 Americans have at least one tattoo, up from about two in 10 four years earlier. Tattoos are popular with young Americans, with 47 per cent of millennials and 36 per cent of members of Generation X saying they had at least one. – (New York Times service)