[3] This means that the right to use the arms is not restricted to a given individual, as in the English feudal system, but is open to all within the extended "sept" or "clan" of the Gaelic culture.
[citation needed] Today, it is more common to see the right hand, palm side up and with the fingers touching rather than the left, as the coat of arms was changed under British rule.
As other related family branches and clans loyal to the O'Neills were often granted or assumed a heraldic achievement, this red hand has been incorporated into the new coat of arms to the point of being a cliché.
[6] The red hand is explained by several slightly differing legends, most of which tend to have a common theme beginning with a promise of land to the first man able to sail or swim across the sea and touch the shores of Ireland.
Using his cunning, O'Neill cuts off his left hand and throws it onto the beach before the other challengers are able to reach shore, thus technically becoming the first of them to touch land and wins all of Ireland as his prize.