Wearing jewelry with a special meaning has always been a popular trend in the fashion world. Jewelry symbols and their meanings tend to vary across cultures, but there are many universal symbols that people recognize and appreciate nonetheless.
Others wear meaningful jewelry as amulets for protection and good luck, while others wear it as a symbol of their culture or faith. Any piece of meaningful jewelry is an excellent addition to any jewelry collection or makes for a thoughtful present. If you’re interested in using jewelry symbols and their meaning to craft your thoughtful jewelry, check out our extensive collection of 925 sterling silver charms. Our sterling silver charms have varied themes perfect for any project and design requirements. Xinar’s sterling silver charms are also proudly made in the U.S. and are always locally sourced. Support local silver manufacturing and benefit from super quality any time you order.
Exploring Jewelry Symbols and Their Meanings
To add glitz and glamour to an outfit, jewelry is a great accessory. Pendants and charms can be made with various symbols and characters. Symbols like these are often more than just decorative touches.
Jewelry symbols and their meanings are lovely because they can go beyond words to communicate meaning. Some of the meanings and histories behind the symbols commonly found in jewelry may come as a complete surprise to you. Some will interact with you, while others will not. Therefore, when searching for the ideal accessory, selecting one that features a symbol expressing a value you hold dear is crucial.
Infinity
You are not seeing a crooked number eight. The infinity symbol had many meanings in ancient India and Tibet, including completion, duality, and the harmony of sexes. It represented the union and parity of sexes and the infinite circling back of time.
John Wallis, an English mathematician from the 17th century, popularized the elegant sideways figure eight symbol we use today to represent infinity, a quantity that is greater than any number.
The Latin word infinitas, from which we get the English word “infinity,” means “limitlessness.”
In its infinitely looping form, the infinity symbol stands for enduring bonds of friendship and love that know no end. Wearing a piece of infinity jewelry is a beautiful way to express your eternal love and devotion to a friend, partner, or even to yourself.
Triangle
Aside from being a familiar three-sided shape from geometry class, this emblem has other, more significant meanings. For example, the three triangles represent the Christian Trinity of God the Father, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit. If you turn the triangle symbol around, you’ll find it has a new connotation.
The blade is another name for the upward-moving triangle—representing male power, fire, and aspiration. The triangle represents male power, aspiration, and rising force.
The triangle with its point pointing down is often called a chalice. It represents the womb, heaven’s grace, and water’s ebb and flow. It represents female divinity and is one of the earliest symbols of its kind. Since the triangle can be worn in two different ways, it is a versatile accessory that can be adapted to suit your every whim.
Hamsa
One of the most popular accessory shapes this season is the Hamsa. With its distinctive palm-shaped design, Hamsa jewelry is instantly recognizable. The symbol has been around for centuries and has come to represent safety and security for its followers—the Arabic word for “five” refers to the fingers on a hand. The evil eye is a malicious stare thought to cause illness, death, or bad luck, and the Hamsa symbol is thought to protect its wearer from its harmful effects. Blessings, power, and strength are other possible interpretations of the symbol.
The Hamsa symbol predates all significant religions and can be traced back to ancient Mesopotamia. This item first saw used as a protective amulet. Despite the evolution of societies, one thing that hasn’t changed is people’s need for security and positivity.
Despite having its roots in the area that is now the Middle East, the Hamsa as part of our collection of jewelry symbols and their meanings hand has evolved and expanded with the cultures that adopted it. Ideas and beliefs spread with the spread of civilizations as they migrated to new parts of the globe. Yet, even as civilizations came and went and new religions were founded, the Hamsa hand remained a constant. The Hamsa has a place in virtually all major religions. It stands as a symbol of safety and optimism.
The Hamsa hand symbolizes good fortune and fertility among some faiths and cultures. However, it is believed to ward off the evil eye in others. A symbol originally, the evil eye has come to represent the adverse effects of being on the receiving end of someone’s malicious or spiteful gaze.
The Hamsa hand is well-known for its ability to bring positive energy and thwart negative energies.
Some Hamsa hands feature an eye symbol, but this is not the evil eye but rather an eye that keeps an eye out for the evil eye’s harmful energy. So it’s like an “anti-evil eye,” protecting its owner from harm while showing them good vibes.
How you choose to wear the talisman will either bring good fortune or protect you from harm. When the palm is down, its owner is receptive to the benevolence of the universe and inviting success and happiness into their lives. The evil eye can be avoided, and good fortune can be attained by simply wearing an upturned hand or a hand depicting an eye. Culturally and religiously, the Hamsa hand is interpreted in various ways. The Hamsa hand is a symbol of solidarity and safety in many cultures and religions.
Heart
The shape of a heart represents love, togetherness, compassion, and affection worldwide. Definitely a part of any set of jewelry symbols and their meanings. Not until the Middle Ages, however, did the heart come to represent its modern connotation. The Christian theology of the time claimed that it represented Jesus Christ and his love. As a result, Christians of the time began including the symbol in their works of art and literature. In the 1600s, when Valentine’s Day was first celebrated, the heart symbol was chosen to represent the new holiday.
Though universally recognized as a romantic love and affection symbol, the heart’s precise historical origins remain a mystery. Some people think that the shape of ivy leaves—a symbol of faithfulness—inspired the image. Others say it looks more like a woman’s breasts, buttocks, or another body part.
The theory about Silphium, a giant fennel that once grew along the North African coast near the Greek colony of Cyrene, is the most out-there of the bunch. Nevertheless, Silphium was widely used by the ancient Greeks and Romans as a birth control method, food flavoring, and medicine (it was said to be particularly effective as a cough syrup).
Because of its widespread praise in classical literature and poetry, the plant’s popularity soared. By the first century A.D., it had been cultivated to extinction.
Many have theorized that the silphium plant’s seedpod, which bore a striking resemblance to the modern Valentine’s heart, was responsible for popularizing the symbol of love and lust. In ancient times, the city of Cyrene used the shape of the heart for its currency because of its prosperity from the silphium trade.
Cross
The cross is a sign of atonement and redemption in the Christian tradition because it commemorates Jesus’ crucifixion. Many people today choose to display this emblem on their clothing as a public declaration of their faith in Christ. It’s commonly held that donning a cross can also ward off evil spirits. The cross has many meanings beyond its religious connotations; for example, it can stand in for the four cardinal points (the four main compass directions): north, east, south, and west; or for the four classical elements (earth, air, fire, and water).
Circle
Eternity, life, wholeness, and perfection are all concepts represented by the circle as a universal symbol. The passage of time or the movement of the planets may also be implied. Giving someone a pendant in the shape of a circle is often taken as a sign of undying affection.
Historically, circles have been used as a universal symbol. It stands for concepts such as completeness, holiness, perfection at one’s inception, the Self, infinity, timeless movement, recurrence, and even the divine.
It embodies both masculine power, as the sun, and feminine, maternal principles, as the soul and the waters that surround us.”
Movement is implied, representing the great rhythm of the universe, the orbit of the planets around the sun (the zodiacal circle), and the great circle of time. Similar to how the number zero represents potential in our counting system, the circle represents the embryo. It serves as a talisman of protection and marks the conclusion of the journey toward enlightenment and inner wholeness.”
The number 10, which represents heaven, perfection, and eternity, is often used to represent these concepts. According to Jung, the octagon represents the middle ground between the square (the condition of the man who has not yet attained inner perfection) and the circle (the ultimate state of Oneness).
Claddagh
The Claddagh ring represents Irish culture by depicting two hands holding a crowned heart. The heart stands for loyalty, friendship and love.
The ring was first made in the 17th century in the Irish village of Claddagh, near Galway.
Over three hundred years ago, the story was first told in the old fishing town of Claddagh, just outside Galway City on the western coast of Ireland.
The Irish ring, known as the Claddagh, symbolizes eternal love. The ring is commonly used as a wedding or engagement ring among the Irish. Claddagh is a small village in County Galway, Ireland, where the Claddagh Ring was first created in the 17th century. The most widely accepted history of where the Claddagh ring came from involves the Joyce family, but there are others.
Richard Joyce, a silversmith of the 1700s, is rumored to have been. Captured by Algerians, Joyce was sold to a Moorish goldsmith in need of an apprentice. The goldsmith quickly realized Joyce’s skill and knowledge, and Joyce ended up training him. When William III ordered all British prisoners released in 1689, he was among those who were freed. In response, his captor made him an offer: stay in Algeria with him, and he would be given half of his wealth and the hand of his only daughter in marriage. After declining the offer, Joyce returned to Galway and started his own jewelry business, where he became known for designing the now-iconic Claddagh ring.
Eggs
Eggs are the quintessential springtime and fertility symbol. Since the Bronze Age, the egg has played a significant role in human culture and history as a powerful symbol of the perpetuation of the human race, appealing to our most primal instincts of survival, health, wealth, and permanency. It should come as no surprise that egg-shaped jewelry is a common motif in many cultures.
The most well-known examples are the Russian Imperial Fabergé Eggs. Still, there are many other examples, such as the 450 gold-decorated eggs given to the members of King Edward I of England’s court in 1290 or the elaborately decorated golden egg King Louis XV of France gave to his mistress Madame Barry.
Fleur-de-Lis
The Fleur-de-lis is a three-petaled lily flower design. Its French name means “flower of the lily,” It is well-known for its inclusion in the former French royal coat of arms. Like the three-leafed Irish shamrock, it represents holiness, the Trinity, and moral perfection. This meaningful symbol is adorable when worn as a necklace.
Some have said that this symbol represents a stylized lily or lotus, while others have said that a specific type of wild iris inspired it. It symbolizes perfection, light, and life and has long been used to represent French royalty. Clovis, the Merovingian king of the Franks, is said to have been given a golden lily (or iris) by an angel as a sign of his redemption when he converted to Christianity. Others argue that Clovis took up the symbol after waterlilies advised him to cross a river without getting wet and thus gave him an advantage in battle.
Louis VI or VII, king of France in the twelfth century (sources differ), adopted the fleur-de-lis as his emblem. Kingly claims to the French throne were later emphasized by including the symbol on the coats of arms of subsequent English monarchs. The term “coat of arms” originates from the 14th century, when the fleur-de-lis was commonly used as part of the family symbol sewn onto the knight’s surcoat, which was worn over the coat of mail. After King Edmund IV established the Heralds’ College in 1483 to oversee the granting of armor logos, the system’s original purpose of identification in battle morphed into a system of social status designations.
The Four-Leaf Clover
The four-leaf clover, like the three-leaf clover or shamrock (see below), has its roots in Ireland. If you find a four-leaf clover, you will have good luck, according to Celtic mythology. Each of the four leaves has a special meaning. It’s easy to get mixed up with the two St. Patrick’s Day symbols—shamrocks and four-leaf clovers. A shamrock is a type of clover with three leaves, but the rarer four-leaf clover is the one associated with good fortune. A deep religious significance explains why we celebrate St. Patrick’s Day with shamrocks, and shamrocks remain an integral part of the holiday today.
