The tattooed image of a raven in the style of Haida people indigenous to Canada's Pacific north-west was getting a lot of attention on social media on election night.

"OH that IS a Raven tattoo! This guy seems interesting," tweeted @meg_shuler. "Is Justin Trudeau the first Western leader to have a tattoo?"asked @aveek18 - one of a number of people who wondered this.

"My tattoo is planet Earth inside a Haida raven. The globe I got when I was 23; the Robert Davidson raven for my 40th birthday," the Liberal Party leader tweeted in 2012.

The design was soon on full public view when he fought a charity boxing match against a Conservative senator, Patrick Brazeau, and surprised many by winning.

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There seems to be some logic behind the choice of a Haida mythological symbol. The Trudeau family were made honorary members of the Haida tribe in 1976 during the second prime ministerial term of Trudeau's father, Pierre.

The younger Trudeau went on to attend the University of British Columbia. While studying to be a teacher there, his younger brother, Michel, died in an avalanche in 1998.

Trudeau once said the raven was a character "who creates with irreverence a powerful force".

So how unusual is it for a world leader to have a tattoo?

It's difficult to definitely say that no prominent current head of states have tattoos. If they do, they keep them covered up.

Tattoo historian Anna Felicity Friedman says she isn't aware of any. Nor is self-proclaimed tattoo professor Kevin Gannon.

However, there have been plenty of tattooed world leaders in the past.

Russian Tsar Nicholas II had a dragon inscribed on his arm during a visit to Japan in 1891, while King Alexander of Yugoslavia had a large heraldic eagle tattooed over his chest. King Frederick IX of Denmark acquired a number of naval-themed tattoos in the navy.

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British Monarchs George V and Edward VII both had a Jerusalem cross tattooed on their arm to mark their pilgrimage to the city, while former UK Prime Minister Winston Churchill had an anchor.

In the US, president Teddy Roosevelt had his family crest tattooed on his chest, while James Polk supposedly had a Chinese character that translated to "eager", and Andrew Jackson was said to have a tomahawk inked on his thigh.

"The interesting thing about Trudeau is he has been very willing to put his tattoo out there in the public eye," says Friedman.

"Trudeau also doesn't seem to be afraid to be a bit edgy."

Tattoo professor Kevin Gannon agrees.

"Being the PM is expected to be a buttoned-down role. But his youthful, new approach was refreshing, and a tattoo can underscore that image," he says.

 A tattooist draws an image on a customers arm at The London International Tattoo Convention

By Vanessa Barford
(BBC News Magazine)