WI: Tattoos as an upper-class cultural signifier?

[Hendryk]

Back at the other place, @Thande once explained that from the 18th to the mid-20th century, in Britain tattoos were a signifier of upper-class status (or at least pretensions). That conversation was recently brought back to mind by a plot detail of the France Fights On TL, in which Franco restores the monarchy in 1945 and puts the Count of Barcelona on the throne as Juan III. Now Don Juan had once served in the Royal Navy and wore tattoos. And so, in OTL, did Admiral Horthy, as well as several other famous historical figures:

JAMES K. POLK
America’s 11th president annexed Texas, but he had another legacy that was just as lasting: starting the trend of Chinese-character tattoos. Polk’s ink translated as “eager,” or so he was told.

ANDREW JACKSON
The notoriously cranky Jackson was never one to bury the hatchet, but he did have a tomahawk inked on his inner thigh.

WINSTON CHURCHILL
As of 2012, the U.K. holds the title of the world’s most tattooed nation, and the trend goes back ages. Even Churchill sported some body art: an anchor on his forearm.

BARRY GOLDWATER
Longtime senator Barry “Mr. Conservative” Goldwater adorned his hand with a crescent moon and four dots, the trademark of the Smoki People, an Arizona organization dedicated to preserving Native American culture.

CZAR NICHOLAS II
In 1891, Nicholas II of Russia visited Japan to improve Russo-Japanese relations. He survived an assassination attempt on his trip, but he also came home with a souvenir: a colorful dragon on his right arm.

(I'd sure like to know whether Polk was one of many Westerners who had the wrong idea about the Chinese character he chose for a tattoo...)

The question is, could the trend amplify instead of mostly fading (Justin Trudeau notwithstanding), and might we see a Western society in which sporting tattoos is a sign of belonging to the political/cultural elites?

 

[Charles EP M.]

Sure, in some countries - we'd just need to know what changed that perception from "upper classes" to "things tough guys have" to "lower class". (I'm guessing it was WW2 veterams getting them?? If so, maybe Prince Philip gets a bunch of ink during the war and that comes up during the Coronation, and it snowballs)

Which could then lead to yuppies getting them, which leads inexorably to an Only Fools And Horses plot of Del Boy drawing on his face in biro.