Friday 13th: Why do people get tattoos?

The 13th of December was the last Friday 13th of 2024 and for most people it is a day to be cautious.

But not for those thinking about getting a tattoo.

‘Flash sales’ on Friday 13th are popular among tattoo parlours across the world with small tattoos normally discounted.

So why do people brave the needle on a day like this. Is it fear, superstition, fun or just because they are cheap?

Ross Walker is a tattoo artist at A Sailor’s Grave in Belfast city centre.

He said Friday 13th is a big day in the tattoo parlour.

“You can’t miss it, you’ve got to be prepping the battle stations at least a couple of weeks before hand,” he said.

“It’s great fun, we are always looking forward to it. You feel like you are a part of history when you do it.”

For many tattooists the day is “manic” and you “never know what to expect”.

“No matter how prepared you are there is always some unexpected turn around the corner,” said Ross.

“It’s a whole lot of craic with good clients.”

For first timers, a small, cheaper tattoo might entice them.

Joshua is one of those people.

“I’m here with my family, they said they were coming for a tattoo, so I thought I may as well and just jumped on the bandwagon” he told BBC News NI.

“It is my first tattoo, I’m just getting a wee clover to start. Something small.”

So did the fact it was Friday 13th put him off?

“Thirteen is one of my lucky numbers, so it doesn’t really make a difference to me what day it is on,” he said.

Ross agreed, saying it is a “good way to test the waters”.

For other customers, this is not their first tattoo on the unlucky day, Hannah Murray is one of them.

“It is tradition to go on Friday 13th to get some new tattoos and to be out for a good fun day with some friends,” she said.

“Thirteen may be unlucky for some but I just thought I would transform the number and make it lucky for me.”

Steve Roud, author of The Penguin Guide to the Superstitions of Britain and Ireland, previously told BBC News that, Friday and the number 13 have always been unlucky in their own right.

“Because Friday was the day of the crucifixion, Fridays were always regarded as a day of penance and abstinence,” he said.

“This religious belief spilled over into a general dislike of starting anything – or doing anything important – on a Friday.”

To further compound the chance of peril, an urban legend started circulating sometime in the 1690s that it was unlucky to have 13 people around a table or in a group, he explains.

Folklorist Anne Marie Lagram – herself a “strong believer” – also previously told BBC News that theories behind “unlucky 13” include the number of people present at the Last Supper or the number of witches to make a coven.

But it was the Victorians who put the two together, said the author of the Country Wisdom and Folklore Diary.

“They were intrigued by folklore and put Friday and 13 together and created a doubly unlucky day,” she said.