Image via WikipediaAngelina Jolie's intriguing new tattoo is overshadowing her humanitarian mission to a refugee camp on the Libyan border of Tunisia.The tattoo on her upper left arm -- an ongoing work in progress -- is a list of the map coordinates for where her six children were born; in a mysterious new twist, the 35-year-old Earth Mother unveiled a seventh line of ink while visiting refugees this week, causing a stir among Jolie watchers: Is she planning a seventh addition to the patchwork Brangelina brood?
The coordinate list has been updated to reflect each new addition to the Jolie-Pitt family. In 2007, Jolie debuted her first batch of mapping numerals: the coordinates for the birthplaces of their first four children. Starting from the top down, the longitudinal and latitudinal numbers represent the birth locations for: Maddox, 9 (Cambodia); Zahara, 6 (Ethiopia); Shiloh, 4 (Namibia); Pax, 7 (Vietnam). Jolie revealed two more inky coordinates -- for now-two-year-old Knox and Vivienne, born in France -- in October 2008.
This latest line, the seventh, remains a mystery. Wonderwall points out that the first number on the bottom line is 35 (it's difficult from the photo to make out the full sequence), which could indicate such disparate locales as Algeria or Brad Pitt's birthplace in Oklahoma. (The coordinates for Shawnee, Oklahoma, where Brad was born, are3520'33"N 9656'2"W.)
What does it all mean? There are a handful of potential scenarios: Jolie wanted to pay tribute to Pitt (romantic). Or they secretly adopted a baby, a la Sandra Bullock (stealthy!). Or maybe the actress and tabloid fixture sought to grab more attention for her United Nations work by tacking on cryptic coordinates (strategic!).
Whatever the case, the numbers mean something. Jolie, a star in full control of her image, rarely does anything without considering the public ramifications.
