Happy Flag Day, a real holiday!

It commemorates the adoption of the stars and stripes as the official U.S. flag in 1777 (President Woodrow Wilson proclaimed the holiday in 1916 and Congress made it official in 1949). But seeing as the District isn’t actually represented on that flag, Washingtonians have taken the opportunity in years past to draw attention to the disenfranchisement of the city’s 702,455 people.

There was once a movement underway to allow the city to fly a specially designed D.C. flag—adorned with the message “Taxation Without Representation”—on Flag Day. And for a few years, there were regular gatherings in Dupont Circle where people showed off their D.C. flag tattoos and used the occasion to lobby for statehood.

Today, Rep. Eleanor Holmes Norton posed with the flag of the “soon-to-be youngest state” alongside Senator Tom Carper, whose home state of Delaware is the first in the nation, to call attention to her D.C. statehood bill. And, as in past years, the group “Neighbors United for DC Statehood” is organizing a photo contest of images showcasing the flag and D.C. pride.  

But there are plenty of people who don’t just brandish the flag one day a year. There seem to be just as many D.C. flag tattoos as there are D.C. flags in this town.

We took the opportunity to speak to three tattoo artists—Matthew Knopp of Tattoo Paradise, Isaac Colon of Laughing Hyena, and Fatty of Fatty’s—about inking the D.C. flag, the strangest variations they’ve seen, and if it’s even cool to get one anymore. The conversations were edited for length and clarity.

How often do you do these tattoos? And who is getting them? 

Knopp: “I’ve been tattooing in D.C. since 2003, for the last 16 years straight. We started doing them instantly. We do lots of D.C. flags. It’s a crapshoot to what type of person gets it this week or that, whether they are male or female, you know.”

Colon: “I can’t even count how many D.C. flag tattoos I’ve done. You get so many different types of people coming in who want the flag. Even though I get a lot of people who are from here, there are a lot more people who just come to D.C. and have such an amazing experience that they feel like they’re home.”

Are there any patterns in terms of where people get them on their bodies? 

Knopp: “They’ll get it everywhere, from chest to arm, leg to calf, you know, forearms, hands.”

Colon: “I find a lot of people getting it on their ribs and on their wrists—the ribs more so for people who want to be discreet. I always suggest people put it somewhere that will flow with your body, and relative to the area and how big you’re getting it. If you’re getting something that’s the size of a quarter, you don’t want to put that on your back. You got a lot of space there. You want it on your wrist, or your ankle, those kind of places.”

What makes the design of the flag so appealing as a tattoo?

Fatty: “As far as being able to tattoo a D.C. flag, it is a perfect design. I would say the average D.C. flag tattoo that we do on people is probably between two and three inches. So, what’s great about the D.C. flag in particular is that it’s a flag that you can reduce down to that size. And it can still be done where it’s going to look good over the years. As opposed to if you took a Maryland flag or United States flag with all the details on it, if you tried to do it at that size, it would just turn to a ball of mush, basically, over time.”

Colon: “When you apply a logo, you want that simplicity so it’s recognized from a distance. I feel like when people see the D.C. flag, you know it’s the D.C. flag. And it works really well for a tattoo artist who wants to put something on someone’s body forever. You know that those lines won’t bleed together if you space them appropriately enough. Red is one of the best colors to use on the skin. With darker tones, like dark blues and dark reds, they’ll stay in really nice. When you start getting in to the lighter tones, like pinks, and yellows and whites, those tend to fade a little bit quicker.”

Do you see a lot of twists on the flag, the way that so many companies have reconfigured it for their logos? 

Fatty: “Typically people really just want the stars and bars. I mean, it’s simple, but it’s strong. And you know, if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.”

Knopp: “It such an iconic image. It’s just so graphic that you can either do it colored in or the outline, or you can get rid of the stars. I’ve seen it with sprockets for bicycles. I’ve seen it with plates, I’ve seen it with with bones, I’ve seen it with skulls. I’ve seen it in many different ways. With cherry blossoms. Everyone has an idea and they want to do it. I’ve done it with bacon and eggs.”

Have you seen an increase in flag tattoos or have they always been popular? 

Fatty: “Just in general, more people are getting tattooed. So the percentage of D.C. flag tattoos we’re doing more so corresponds with the interest in tattooing and the growth of tattooing over the last, you know, 10-20 years. I see it more as just an indication of just the overall growth of the industry, and not so much an increase in the D.C. flag, specifically.”

A few years ago, Kojo Nnamdi, Mary Cheh, and Tom Sherwood got tattooed together, and a Washington Post writer declared that the D.C. flag tattoo is “no longer cool.” Do you agree?

Fatty (who tattooed Sherwood): “What a bunch of garbage. What’s cool is what’s cool to you personally, being true to yourself is what’s cool. It doesn’t matter what anybody says. It was just a ridiculous article. Following who you really are is what is always going to be cool. And if that happens to be getting a D.C. flag tattoo, that’s what it is. I know a lot of super cool 60 and 70 year olds that are getting tattooed.”

Colon: “Nothing should ever be hip. If you want to get the D.C. flag, get the D.C. flag. I don’t think I’ve ever talked to somebody who came in here that was like ‘I’m gonna get this because this is a cool thing to do, or I saw somebody else do it.’ And there are a lot of tattoos that are trends. People will come in, and they’re like, ‘I want this because I saw Rihanna has it, or Ariana Grande has it.’ But I don’t think I’ll ever have somebody come in and say that about the flag.”

Do you have a flag tattoo?

Fatty: “I don’t have any flag tattooed on me. I have my shop symbol, but that’s about it, the only thing I’m going to identify myself with.”

Knopp: “I have a miniature version.” [on the side of one of his fingers]

Colon: “I’m getting one on the inside of my lip on Flag Day. It will commemorate Laughing Hyena’s five year anniversary.” [Convinced you need one, too? Laughing Hyena is offering $40 tattoos from 1 p.m.-4 p.m. on Friday, with the proceeds benefiting CentroNía.]

Why do you think D.C. flag tattoos are such a thing?

Colon: “I’m coming from the perspective of Washingtonians. It’s like, I love my city. I’ve traveled to a lot of places, but I’ve always come back to D.C. because I think there’s something super special about it. And I do think that people have a lot of pride here, and we want to show it off. We talk a lot about “the DMV,” but people from D.C. don’t like that word. Maryland and Virginia are very accepting, like ‘yeah this is the DMV’ and we’re like ‘no, we’re D.C.’ That’s kind of the mentality of a lot of Washingtonians. I mean, you have go-go, you have all these really beautiful things that are happening that are only unique to us. And we take a lot of pride in that, and the flag represents that.”

You can also hear more about D.C. flags (and Maryland and Virginia flags) on this episode of the What’s With Washington podcast.

This story has been updated to correct the origin of Flag Day.