Angelina Jolie’s son Maddox, 19, proves he’s inherited her love of inkings

She is known for her array of striking inkings. 

And Angelina Jolie proved her love of tattoos has passed down through the family as her eldest son Maddox, 19, flaunted a huge snake tattoo down his torso in a portrait from her stunning new spread for British Vogue’s March issue. 

The actress co-parents Maddox, Pax, 17, Zahara, 16, Shiloh, 14, and 12-year-old twins Vivienne and Knox with ex Brad Pitt, however Maddox’s relationship with his father has been fraught with drama in recent years. 

Angelina is famed for her love of body ink and has at least 20 tattoos, including the coordinates of her children’s birth places and a huge tiger. 

It seems Maddox enjoys her style as one of the images from the Vogue spread featured a black and white image showing Angelina doing her son’s hair.  

Angelina’s designs include a Tennessee Williams quote, a Buddhist prayer and geographical coordinates of where her children were born. 

The three largest tattoos on her back were added in 2016– ancient Buddhist mantras down her right shoulder blade, a temple in the centre of her back, and, below it, a grid design known as a Yantra, believed to bring good luck. 

Beneath these is the image of a large Bengal tiger that she acquired in 2004 to celebrate her Cambodian citizenship.

She got the tattoo in Bangkok, which was was made in traditional Thai style with a manual needle, and was blessed by the tattoo artist, who chanted an ancient hymn while making it.

A tattoo on her left shoulder blade is a script dedicated to Maddox, whom she adopted in Cambodia, and was done in 2003 in a Thai hotel.

Just months before actor-turned director Angelina split from her husband of 12 years, Brad Pitt in 2016 the couple had a former Thai monk flown to Cambodia where she was filming. 

He drew designs on both stars using the same ink to symbolically and ‘bind’ them as husband and wife.

Angelina also has gothic lettering on her neck reading Know Your Rights, the title of a song by The Clash, one of her favourite bands.

The Oscar-winning actress’s whirlwind marriage to actor Billy Bob Thornton in 2000 after a two-month courtship prompted her to have his name and a dragon tattooed on her shoulder. By 2002, the ink had been erased by laser.

She said at the time: ‘I’ve moved on — that’s why it’s going.’ It was replaced with the coordinates of her children’s and Pitt’s birthplaces. 

Angelina filed to absolve her marriage to Brad in 2016, saying in a June 2020 interview with Vogue India that it was for ‘the well-being of my family,’ adding ‘it was the right decision.’ 

It was reported at the time that Pitt had gotten into an alcohol-fueled violent screaming match with Jolie, prompting eldest son Maddox to defend his mother. 

Jolie was granted temporary custody over all six children and Brad was granted visitation rights with a court-appointed therapist present. 

In 2018, a court ruled in favor of Brad after he alleged that Angelina was preventing the children from having a consistent relationship with him. He was given a temporary summer custody that allowed him to spend time with the kids without Jolie present. 

She then alleged that summer that he had not been paying ‘meaningful’ child support for over a year, with Pitt retorting that he had loaned Angelina $8M and given an additional $1.8M to help with bills. 

The custody trial was supposed to begin in November 2018 but the two reached an agreement instead, with ET reporting that it was in the best interest of the children and eliminated the need for a trial. 

Pitt was granted less than 50 percent custody of the kids despite wanting equal joint custody, prompting him to continue fighting for what he saw fit in another trial.  

The pair were ruled ‘legally single’ in April 2020 but the status did not finalize the divorce or the custody battle. 

Brad continues to seek joint custody with a trial  that was scheduled for October, as he compiled a list of over 20 witnesses to strengthen his case. 

The couple had already decided that Maddox was not a custody consideration and could decide when he wanted to see Brad as he was no longer a minor. 

Many details of the trial have been kept under wraps, though a decision was purported to be expected at their next trial which was scheduled for December 21.  

In her latest interview with Vogue, the Unbroken star also touched on her role as the special envoy from the UN Refugee Agency. 

Angelina shared: ‘I started in my early twenties, putting on my boots and backpack, and going out to try and figure out what the hell was going on in the world. 

‘I tried to give myself a broader education than I’d had at school. I grew up in a very empty place, in many ways, so had to go to find a wider understanding.’

The activist went on to admit she believes the perception of refugees has ‘worsened’ over time, explaining: ‘We speak as if refugees are a burden. But they’ve had to adapt. They have a different skill set, a different look in their eye. 

‘They’ve confronted their own humanity in such a profound way. They’ve stood up to oppression. We should honour their fight. Honour the people who’ve fled bombs and protected their kids.’ 

ressing the importance of teaching global citizenship to her kids, she added: ‘They are from across the globe. When I see Mad in Cambodia, it’s his home. 

‘He is a Cambodian man, and at the same time, he is also an American citizen and a global citizen. But it’s not just important for him to go there, it’s important for his siblings to go there, too. 

All 27 international Vogues are dedicating their March issues to Creativity. Each issue is a celebration of those who encourage us to look at life in a new way, featuring portfolios of the brightest young stars in fashion, music, art and film, alongside inspiring editorials and extraordinary fashion through each Vogue’s local lens. 

See the full feature in the March issue of British Vogue available via digital download and on newsstands Friday 5th February.