Preston Rowles, manager of Yazuka Tattoo at Narellan, said Southern Cross tattoos were simply

a popular and easy choice for first-time tattoos.

``It means they're proud to be Aussie, I suppose,'' Mr Rowles said.

The tattooist said the desire to have a tattoo of the Southern Cross stemmed from a sense of pride, not aggression, in young Australians.

``A lot of people say that the prevalence of Southern Cross tattoos increased since the Cronulla riots but no, not really,'' he said.

He said Southern Cross tattoos were around long before the 2005 riots and had been common in Camden long before any talk of an Islamic school.

``People will get them anyway, it has nothing to do with the school,'' he said.

``I've done a few thousand, they're really easy the shop probably averages, in summer, seven to 10 a week.''

Mr Rowles said he opposed the proposed Islamic school.

``Camden is still a country town but it won't be for long,'' Mr Rowles said. ``No one wants the school, I sure as hell don't want it.''

Ryan Crocker of Narellan Vale received a Southern Cross tattoo at Yazuka. He too doesn't like the proposed school.

``I'm sort of against it,'' he said.

But he's had the tattoo for years and says he got it out of mateship and a sense of national pride.

``It's nothing to do with the school. I've got a lot of mates that aren't Australian and I've got nothing against their culture,'' he said.

``It's loyalty to Australia pretty much.

``One of my mates went in and we both got it on the same side.''

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