TikTok users unwittingly use Nazi-adopted Wolfsangel symbol in Gen Z tattoo trend

Tiktok users have inked their arms with a symbol not knowing what it means. Photo / Tiktok

With thousands of Generation Z users dominating on TikTok, the platform's young demographic have become the latest victims of a tattoo challenge gone wrong.

Gen Z users – who make up the majority of users – have recently been embracing a new tattoo trend of inking a "Z" symbol on themselves.

While the design was meant as a stylish nod to Gen Z (those born between 1997 and 2012), some users have Googled the motif only to realise their new ink actually resembles a Nazi symbol.

In a video that has since been made private but continues to be shared across the platform, TikTok user "smoothavocado" suggested all members of the youngest generation get matching tattoos.

"What if, now hear me out … we all got a matching tattoo, not only a symbol of unity in our generation, but also as a sign of rebellion," she said in the post, reports Yahoo.

i’m so down #genz pic.twitter.com/4OyZl0qTXv

— hailey :) (@haileymagadan) September 18, 2020

Other users were quick to point out the likeness between a "Z" with a line through it and the Wolfsangel symbol, which is often associated with the Nazi party and other white supremacist groups.

The user later uploaded a second video saying "Yeah maybe don't … let's find a different symbol."

It's unclear how many people actually got the tattoo but a number of images and videos appeared on the video-sharing platform showing the "Z" tattoos, with some users boasting about joining the trend.

tw nazis antisemitism
PLEASE please please don't get the gen z matching tattoo it's extremely similar to a nazi symbol (specifically the wolfsangel) i'm begging you please don't pic.twitter.com/BBjnCF9vYC

— josie🌈 (@puppygender) September 20, 2020

Don’t listen to the people saying not to get the tattoo #GenZ if you sang it get it. it’s not even the same as the nazi thing. It’s different and just because it was used as a nazi symbol doesn’t mean it has to always stand for that. Grow tf up it’s a tattoo #YOLO BITCHES pic.twitter.com/o5AzFCJVrR

— Alexis Carman (@ItsTheRealLexi) September 20, 2020

it’s the getting a gen z tattoo because of tiktok for me. pic.twitter.com/Eem9LJYnQm

— veda 🦋 (@vedaxclark) September 20, 2020

Earlier this week, the term "Gen Z" was also trending on social media platform Twitter, suggesting the idea was gaining traction.

There have been at least 40,000 tweets about Gen Z and countless messages from those offended by the misunderstood tattoos.

The trend has outraged most social media users, with many questioning how thousands could possibly be considering a semipermanent tattoo based only off a TikTok video.

"If you got the "Gen Z tattoo" you are a special kind of stupid," commented one social media user.

The young woman who sparked the idea has since apologised, amid the symbol's links to white supremacists, Nazis and/or hate groups.

"I have been writing my Zs like that since elementary school," she said in the post circulating online.

"So when I put that on there, I did not think anything of it … My entire point of this was to bring my generation together. It was about love and unity, OK?"