#but I dont think the devs gave it to her to push any shippy/couple shenanigans

[akiriith]

Speaking as someone who thinks Cloud and Tifa are together... I think its just a symbol for "family", tbh. By AC, the gang seems to like to use symbols as a reminder of their bond in general. There's the greater FF7 family, so they use the pink ribbons. It's to honor Aerith but it also marks them all as part of that group, those who lived through that journey and have that special bond. And then there's Cloud's personal little "pack" within that group, the ones that wear the cloudy wolf symbol. That's him and Tifa sure, but Barret also wears a ring. Denzel too (which WAS probably Cloud's, he would be extra enough to wear it as an earring, on his pauldron and on his hand lol). The only one who I havent found is Marlene, but maybe going for Cloud's turtleneck is enough lol.

I've always been curious about that ring Tifa wears in Advent Children. There's a scene in the movie that gives it a lot of focus. Is there any significance to it? Could it be an promise ring ?

Talks about the ring have been going on for as long as advent children has been out. As far as I know there has never been an official statement about it. We know that the wolf Cloud sees in advent children symbolizes his loneliness and guilt, but it's doubtful that that extends to Tifas jewelry. For her the wolf simply symbolizes Cloud. If you want more concrete symbolism about the subject Silverwield did an article about it once. Link If you want it to be a promise ring you can totally interpret it as such. If you want it to be an engagement ring or even a wedding ring you can interpret it as such as well, as Silverwield points out, its a different culture, it can mean anything. For me, I'm not too interested because ultimately unless its confirmed you really don't know what part is intended and what part is us reaching and reading too much into it. I prefer to stick to the most mundane interpretation. Cloud and Tifa are wearing matching clothing and jewelry because they're a couple and when you're a couple you buy each other jewelry. It's just one of the many small details that reinforce the idea that they're together. Really it comes down to one thing, the ring can mean almost anything, but the one thing it can't mean...is nothing.

Tifa wears a ring symbolizing Cloud.... she's probably not doing that because "he's such a good buddy".