How old do you have to be to get a tattoo in the world
One of the questions repeated is:
What is the legal age for being tattooed?
The question is not easy to answer, so I have decided to write this post for you.
I want to show you all the information I could collect for the legal tattoo age all over the world: In the US, rest of America, Europe, Africa, and Asia.
After this, I want to share with you some peculiarities with tattoos in different countries.
About tattoo legal age around the world
If you want to have the global picture of tattooing all over the world, it is easy:
If you are an adult, you can tattoo. If you are a minor, it depends (a lot).
The usual age for being adult is 18, but:
- Is 16 in Scotland, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Austria, Alabama, and Nebraska.
- Is 17 in North Korea and Oriental Timor.
- Is 20 in South Korea and Thailand.
- Is 21 in Bahrain, Honduras, Madagascar, Puerto Rico, Singapore, New York, and Mississippi.
For minors, there are three different options:
- Minors cannot be tattooed at all (or only for medical reasons).
- Written parent consent is mandatory (sometimes presence during the procedure too).
- Written parent consent is mandatory, but does not apply in the region because none is asking for the ID.
Tattoo legal age in the US
Legally speaking, the US is a complicated country.
Usually each state has its own law for tattoos and, moreover, one state (Nevada) has no regulation at all, and it depends on its different regions (fantastic).
In the US usually the adult age is 16, because is the age when you can have a contract with someone, but there are a lot of “buts” on this concept because, when it’s specified, the age for tattooing is usually 18, not 16.
Moreover, some states need parental consent for minors, others need the presence of the adults/guardians too and, on other ones, it is just not legal to tattoo minors.
Here is a table with all the legislation from each state:
| State | Age | Comment |
|---|---|---|
| Alabama | No Specified | Parnetal consent in presence of the artist. Cannot tattoo and intoxicated person. |
| Alaska | 18 | Parental consent for both parents, written and be present during the procedure |
| Arizona | No Specified | Parent must be present for minors |
| Arkansas | 18 | Unlawful under 18. |
| California | 18 | Parent must be present for minors |
| Colorado | 18 | Parent must be present for minors |
| Connecticut | No Specified | Permission of parents of guardian for minors |
| District of Columbia | 18 | |
| Delaware | 18 | |
| Florida | 16 | Parnetal consent for minors. Two parents and the minor must present ID. |
| Georgia | 18 | You cannot be tattooed withing an inch of your eye socket |
| Hawaii | Minors: Written consent for parents | |
| Idaho | 14 | Minors: Written consent for parents on their presence |
| Illinois | 18 | Minors cannot be on a tattoo studio withour their parents or guardian |
| Indiana | No Specified | Minors: Written consent and parent or guardian must be present |
| Iowa | 18 | Minors cannot be tattooed |
| Kansas | 16 | Minors: Written consent from parents or guardian |
| Kentucky | 16 | Minors: Written consent from parents or guardian |
| Louisiana | 16 | Minors: Written consent and parent or guardian must be present |
| Maine | 18 | |
| Maryland | No Specified | Written consent retained for 3 years |
| Massachusetts | 18 | |
| Michigan | No Specified | Minors: Written consent and parent or guardian must be present |
| Minnesota | 18 | Minors cannot be tattooed |
| Mississippi | 18 | Misors cannot be tattooed |
| Missouri | No Specified | Minors: Written consent and parent or guardian must be present |
| Montana | No Specified | Minors: Written consent and parent or guardian must be present |
| Nebraska | No Specified | Minors: Written consent and parent or guardian must be present |
| Nevada | No Specified | Don't have state legislation |
| New Hampshire | 18 | Minors cannot be tattooed |
| New Jersey | 16 | Minors: Written consent from parent or guardian. |
| New Mexico | No Specified | Minors: Written consent and parent or guardian must be present |
| New York | 18 | Minors: Written consent and parent or guardian must be present |
| North Carolina | 18 | Minors cannot be tattooed |
| North Dakota | No Specified | Minors: Written consent from parents or guardian |
| Ohio | No Specified | Minors: Written consent and parent or guardian must be present |
| Oklahoma | 18 | Minors cannot be tattooed |
| Oregon | 18 | Minors only can be tattooed with the authorization of a physician. |
| Pennsylvania | No Specified | Minors: Written consent and parent or guardian must be present |
| Rhode Island | 18 | Minors cannot be tattooed |
| South Carolina | 18 | Minors cannot be tattooed |
| South Dakota | No Specified | Minors: Written consent from parents or guardian |
| Tennessee | 18 | Minors only can be tattoed to cover up an existing tattoo |
| Texas | 18 | Minors only can be tattoed to cover up an existing tattoo |
| Utah | No Specified | Minors: Written consent and parent or guardian must be present and provide proof of identity |
| Vermont | No Specified | No legislation |
| Virginia | No Specified | Minors: Written consent from parents or guardian |
| Washington | 18 | |
| West Virginia | No Specified | Minors: Written consent from parents or guardian |
| Wisconsin | 18 | Minors cannot be tattooed |
| Wyoming | No Specified | Minors: verbal consent during the procedure |
Tattoo legal age in Europe
In Europe, the situation it is nearly the same:
A lot of countries have a lot of different laws, but the spirit is the same.
On the next table, I write first the countries on the European Union, and there, the others.
There are weird things too like, for example, Monaco started the legislation back in 2012 (late!), Spain has different laws depending on the region (17 for 1 single country), or Armenia, who culturally revile tattoo because it seems it was satanic.
The complete table, here:
| Country | Age | Comment |
|---|---|---|
| Austria | 18 | With parental consent from 16 to 18. |
| Belgium | 18 | With parental consent from 16 to 18. |
| Bulgaria | 18 | No legislation. |
| Croatia | 18 | With parental consent from 16 to 18. Parents may be present. Some studios don't tattoo minors. |
| Cyprus | 18 | Just in case someone ask you for your ID... |
| Czech Republic | 18 | No legislation. |
| Denmark | 18 | Is not legal -18 years or tattooing head, neck or hands. |
| Estonia | 18 | No legislation. |
| Finland | 18 | Parental consent under 18. |
| France | 16 | You cannot tattoo fascist stuff. |
| Germany | 18 | With parental consent from 16 to 18. You cannot tattoo fascist stuff. |
| Greece | 18 | With parental consent or being parents present from 16 to 18. Or due medical reasons. |
| Hungary | 18 | No legislation. |
| Ireland | 16 | No legislation, but the facto age is 16. In some cases, it's possible with 14 with parent consent. |
| Italy | 18 | No legislation. |
| Latvia | 18 | No legislation. |
| Lithuania | 18 | No legislation. |
| Luxembourg | 18 | No legislation. |
| Malta | 18 | No legislation. |
| Netherlands | 16 | Legal age is 16, minors with parent consent. |
| Poland | 16 | No legislation. |
| Portugal | 16 | |
| Romania | 18 | |
| Slovakia | 16 | No legislation. |
| Slovenia | 18 | No legislation. |
| Spain | 14-16 | Depends on the region. |
| Sweden | 18 | |
| United Kingdom | 18 | Is not legal tattooing minors except for medical reasons. |
| Albania | 18 | Cannot find anything. |
| Andorra | 18 | Cannot find anything. |
| Armenia | 18 | No legislation, this country is not much tattoo-friendly. |
| Azerbaiyan | 18 | Cannot find anything. |
| Belarus | 18 | Cannot find anything. |
| Bosnia & Herzegovina | 18 | Cannot find anything. |
| Georgia | 18 | Cannot find anything. |
| Iceland | 18 | Parental consent from 16 to 18. |
| Liechtenstein | 18 | Cannot find anything. |
| North Macedonia | 18 | Cannot find anything. |
| Moldova | 18 | Cannot find anything. |
| Monaco | 18 | The legislation is from 2012! |
| Montenegro | 18 | Cannot find anything. |
| Norway | 18 | Parental consent from 16 to 18. |
| Russia | 18 | Legal age, 18. You cannot show extremist tattoos in public. |
| San Marino | 18 | Cannot find anything. |
| Serbia | 18 | Cannot find anything. |
| Switzerland | 18 | |
| Ukraine | 18 | Cannot find anything. |
Tattoo legal age in the rest of America
If we saw all America except the US, the picture is almost the same.
I only can find legislation for 13 countries and, if some cases, these laws are tricky.
Weird things, of course. In Costa Rica you can do a tattoo being 12 years old, in Cuba tattoo is practically “not legal” or in El Salvador, there is not a legal prohibition for minors.
Party hard, dude.
| Country | Age | Comment |
|---|---|---|
| Canada | 16 | Minors: Parental consent needed. |
| Brazil | 18 | |
| Mexico | 18 | Minors: Parental consent needed. |
| Argentina | 18 | Minors: Parental consent needed. |
| Peru | 16 | Minors: Parental consent needed. |
| Venezuela | ||
| Chile | 18 | Exceptions for minors. |
| Ecuador | 18 | Exceptions for minors. |
| Cuba | Tricky laws. In the practice, tattoos are nearly banned. | |
| El Salvador | 18 | No legal forbid for minors. |
| Costa Rica | 18 | Between 12 and 18, parental consent needed. |
| Puerto Rico | 18 | |
| Uruguay | 18 | Between 15 and 17, parental consent needed. |
Tattoo legal age in Africa
If Europe or North America is kind of a mess speaking about laws, Africa is on an early stage.
So much that I do not have a table for Africa.
I am sorry about that, but there is no information about the entire continent.
And this is a real pity.
South Africa is the only country with something written, and -16 years old are rejected by tattoo studios. Usually, but not always.
Islamic countries have a hard relation with tattoos. In some countries they are forbidden because of Sharia, in others, the youth people are starting to break the taboo, but they are only in the early beginning.
Some weird facts about tattoos all over the world
Finally, these are a lot of weird and funny facts about tattoo in the world:
- In China and Cuba right wing and most of religious tattoos are banned.
- In North Korea, all tattoos may be approved by the Communist Party.
- Malaysia and Pakistan forbid Quran quotes, and Allah & Prophet Muhammad tattoos.
- In Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Afghanistan tattoos are forbidden due Sharia.
- In Iran tattoo is banned, and UAE and South Korea bans tattoos from tattoo artists.
- In Germany or France fascists or Nazi tattoo are banned.
- In Sri Lanka or Myanmar Buddha tattoos are banned, and in Thailand, only Buddha’s head ones.
- In Japan you cannot go to ofuros if you are tattooed, and you are not welcome in most swimming pools, gyms, bars or even stores, because of Yakuza tradition.
- In Turkey there is a law from 2014 than ban tattoos and piercing at the schools.
If you have some information about tattoo legislation all around the world, please let me know, I want to complete that list!
