# Does this look like gang graffiti to you? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [April 28, 2006, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-this-look-like-gang-graffiti-to-you/354666 "2006-04-28T22:38:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![cwthree](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9de0a6/32.png) [@cwthree](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cwthree)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2006, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-this-look-like-gang-graffiti-to-you/354666/1 "2006-04-28T22:38:07Z")
A friend of mine is house-hunting and I’ve been going along to offer opinions. We went to an open house over the weekend and the house itself looks pretty good. However, while we were upstairs we happened to have a good view into the neighbors’ yard and she noticed some graffiti. Now she’s wondering if this is gang graffiti or just random vandalism. As it happens, she took some pictures from up there (trying to get a good view of the yard of the place for sale, for reference) and one shot includes the [grafitti](http://community.webshots.com/album/549911186UvGQeI) in question. Now, the last place I lived, I would have looked at the upright shapes - which look like pitchforks or tridents to me - and instantly said “gang!” But the squiggly stuff in the middle doesn’t look familiar. What do you think? Gang grafitti, or just neighbor kids messing around in the yard with spray paint? ---
**Author:** ![Flutterby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Flutterby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Flutterby)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2006, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-this-look-like-gang-graffiti-to-you/354666/2 "2006-04-28T22:42:37Z")
It was inside the neighbours yard? Well, it looks like kids playing with stuff to me. Like a moon and stars and the moon is sailing on a ship. ---
**Author:** ![cwthree](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9de0a6/32.png) [@cwthree](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cwthree)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2006, 10:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-this-look-like-gang-graffiti-to-you/354666/3 "2006-04-28T22:51:18Z")
[QUOTE=Flutterby] It was inside the neighbours yard? Well, it looks like kids playing with stuff to me. Like a moon and stars and the moon is sailing on a ship. [/QUOTE] Yes, inside the yard on some kind of tool shed. ---
**Author:** ![yBeayf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/e274bd/32.png) [@yBeayf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yBeayf)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2006, 12:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-this-look-like-gang-graffiti-to-you/354666/4 "2006-04-29T00:09:31Z")
It does look gang-like to me. The part in the middle could be a stylized “G” or “6”. ---
**Author:** ![Anastasaeon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/73ab20/32.png) [@Anastasaeon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anastasaeon)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2006, 12:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-this-look-like-gang-graffiti-to-you/354666/5 "2006-04-29T00:26:39Z")
Looks like kid-art to me. Gang art usually has a certain style to it, even if you can’t make out exactly what it says. This just looks like a cutesy kind of picture. I also thought of a boat, stars, maybe the moon. Even if it is a “G”, it doesn’t have that “style” that I don’t quite know how to describe. It looks childish and pretty innocent, IMVHO. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2006, 12:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-this-look-like-gang-graffiti-to-you/354666/6 "2006-04-29T00:30:00Z")
I can’t really tell from that small picture but that doesn’t look like any tagging I’ve seen before. Maybe some neighborhood kids formed a “gang” and marked the shed as their meeting place? ---
**Author:** ![Daithi\_Lacha](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/daithi_lacha/32/5430_2.png) [@Daithi\_Lacha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Daithi_Lacha)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2006, 2:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-this-look-like-gang-graffiti-to-you/354666/7 "2006-04-29T02:13:58Z")
It looks a little too formal to be “kids foolin’ around,” but it’s too involved to be a gang tag, IMO. It’s too much like a picture, rather than a straightforward marking symbol. We live very close to the train tracks that run freight out of Miami, and trust me - there’s a LOT of graffiti on those trains, and none of it looks like this. ---
**Author:** ![Lionne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Lionne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lionne)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2006, 2:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-this-look-like-gang-graffiti-to-you/354666/8 "2006-04-29T02:25:56Z")
Not to me, no. ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2006, 11:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-this-look-like-gang-graffiti-to-you/354666/9 "2006-04-29T11:27:51Z")
Another vote for NOT gang related. If you’re really concerned you could take it to the police department\* and ask them if they recognize it. \*I have no idea about your location, but you might want to go to the county dept rather then the city if there tends to more graffiti in other parts of town. Also, in Milwaukee, we have an anti-graffiti task force, if your city has something like that, they might even be the one’s to contact. ---
**Author:** ![DougC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/7feea3/32.png) [@DougC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DougC)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2006, 12:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-this-look-like-gang-graffiti-to-you/354666/10 "2006-04-29T12:36:47Z")
- - - It is gang-related. Mexican/Hispanic gangs do graffiti like that. ~ ---
**Author:** ![Rick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/9f8e36/32.png) [@Rick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2006, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-this-look-like-gang-graffiti-to-you/354666/11 "2006-04-29T15:10:08Z")
[QUOTE=DougC] - - - It is gang-related. Mexican/Hispanic gangs do graffiti like that. ~ [/QUOTE] Not in my bario. This does not look like any gang tags I have seen in LA