“I’m engaged”, the young woman brightly announces to her girlfriend. “Let me see your ring!” exclaims her best friend. The diamond engagement ring worn on the third finger of the left hand is the traditional symbol for American and Northern European weddings. Traditions for the ring have varied over the centuries and countries. Here are just a few.
Ancient Romans believed that the vein in the third finger of the left hand ran directly to the heart, thus the placement of the ring on this finger. However, Egyptians wore wedding rings on the middle finger of the left hand. Medieval bridegrooms invoked the Holy Trinity while placing the ring first on the thumb saying “The Father”, then the index saying “The Son”, then middle finger saying “The Holy Spirit” and finally on the third finger, left hand while saying “Amen”. Puritans disapproved of a ring in the ceremony and quietly put it on afterward. In some European countries wedding rings are worn on the right hand. A Greek woman wears her ring on her left hand while engaged, then on the right after marriage.
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