By tradition the ring is taken to signify the wish that love and friendship should reign supreme. The hands signify friendship and faith, the crown loyalty and fidelity, and the heart love. It is also said the Claddagh symbolises the Holy Trinity. The crown signifies The Father, the left hand The Son, and the right hand The Holy Ghost....all caring for the heart in the center which symbolises humanity. This explanation correlates to the Shamrock, one of the earliest symbols of the Holy Trinity among the Irish.

There was also a Dublin version of this ring that appeared some 100 years back with two hands and two Hearts but no Crown. Some call this version the Fenian Claddagh. Some will say that the crown represents Beathauile. The left hand represents Anu who was the ancestral and universal mother of the Celts and who later changed her name Danu. The right hand represents Dagda Mor, the father of the gods who was so powerful he had the power to make the sun stand still. The heart represents the Hearts of all mankind and that which gives the everlasting music to the Gael.

In the 17th century the symbol was first depicted on a ring which became the fashionable exchange of friends or lovers. These rings were kept as heirlooms and, with great pride, were passed from mother to daughter on the daughter's wedding day.

Today, the ring is worn extensively across Ireland and elsewhere. Worn on the right hand with the heart turned outwards shows that the wearer is "fancy free". When the heart is turned inwards, it denotes that he or she is "spoken for".

The symbolism of the Claddagh can also vary depending on which hand the ring is worn: Worn on the right hand with the point of the heart turned outwards, the world will know that the heart has not yet been won. Worn on the right hand with the point of the heart turned inwards, it shows that friendship and love is being considered. Worn on the left hand with the point of the heart turned inwards, it means two loves have joined forever.

Throughout each varying symbolism, a single theme shines through, specifically that the ring symbolises the trinity of "Love, Loyalty, and Friendship".

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