The Straight Razor tattoo can be used to symbolize someone who is old school or it can be used to represent someone who lives life on the cutting edge. With either interpretation, one thing is crystal clear: People who have a Straight Razor tattoo know who they are, don’t take guff from anyone, and always take care of business. They work hard and play hard. You may like this type of tattoo design because it can be integrated with many other tattoo designs of different motifs – love, loss, victory, vengeance, softness, strength, you name it. This tattoo design dates back 500 years, which means as a symbol the straight razor has had a variety of meanings. A time-tested meaning is that there is a negative situation that has been smoothed out, or that still needs to be smoothed out. Another persistent meaning is that a person is someone to tread lightly with, because he or she is cutthroat and ruthless. In the 1970s, this tattoo design was adopted by the drug subculture of the disco scene, but this use has since fallen out of vogue.
