Tuesday, May 11, 2010

Man has many, many flags tattooed on face

Man has many, many flags tattooed on face

A man who is so keen on breaking records that he changed his name to Guinness is hoping to gain entry into the record book by tattooing the flag of every country in the world on his body.


Guinness Rishi and his flag tattoos

Guinness Rishi and his flag tattoos

Guinness Rishi, 67, of India, already holds four world records, for feats as diverse as building the world's tallest sugar cube tower and adopting the world's oldest adoptee (his 61-year-old brother-in-law). But he now plans to cover his body in 220 different flags, a process he estimates will take him three years and cost around £12,500.

Rishi already has six of the tattoos done, on his face - the flags of India, the United Kingdom, the USA, Canada, Cyprus, and the Indian Congress Party. He says that his face is being reserved for the most important flags - he thinks he can fit around 60 1-inch flags on his head..

As well as the flags of the 201 recognised states in the world, he'll also have flags of nations like Scotland and Wales, and various others (hence the Indian Congress Party flag, and the shout out to oddity-collectors Ripley's Believe It Or Not.)

After covering his head, he will have the remaining flags added from his neck down in alphabetical order.

While the plan will be long, expensive, and has already caused disagreements with his wife and family, Rishi believes it is worth the price.

'People consider me an extraordinary person, not an ordinary person,' he said.

TOP FIVE FLAGS THAT MIGHT CAUSE HIM PROBLEMS

Bhutan flag

Bhutan
The Bhutanese flag features a rather complicated and detailed dragon-holding-some-jewels motif that might be quite tricky to replicate in the form of a small tattoo. The scales will be awkward. On the plus side, a rampant dragon is a fairly common tattoo-theme, so maybe the tattooist will have had some practice.

Nepal flag

Nepal
The Nepalese flag's uniquely awkward shape and dimensions might make it hard to fit into a regular grid pattern, which could leave the result looking a bit weird. Which is not to say that it doesn't look a bit weird already, but if you're going to cover your entire body with flag tattoos, at least you'd want them to be in some kind of aesthetically pleasing pattern, right?

Mozambique flag

Mozambique
The fact that Mozambique's flag actually features a picture of an AK-47 might cause Rishi some trouble when going through, say, US immigration control. Most countries that have weapons on their flags usually settle for a sword of some kind, which probably seems less threatening.

Falklands flag

The Falkland Islands
Like Bhutan, another ridiculously fiddly one - like many small states still feeling the hangover from British colonial times, it's an awkward mixture of the Union flag and what appears to be a random assemblage of clip-art. In this case, it's a sheep standing astride a sailing boat, with the words 'Desire The Right' underneath. Obviously.

Turkmenistan flag

Turkmenistan
Widely regarded as the most intricate flag in the world, Turkmenistan helpfully includes a highly detailed traditional Turkmen carpet design down the left-hand side which no tattooist in the world will be able to render in something an inch square. Dear Turkmenistan: do not put your carpets on your flags, it's just not a good look. Also, the colours are horrible. (See also the similarly laid-out Kazakhstan flag, which is slightly less intricate, but has much more eye-watering colours.)

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