On which hand do married women wear a ring?

The picture when a very young girl makes an impromptu ring of grass or flower for herself and puts it on her ring finger can be seen quite often. It just so happened that girls dream of a happy marriage from an early age, where the engagement ring is a symbol of happiness and prosperity in marriage.

It’s just that today it’s not clear to everyone on which hand married women and men wear a ring, since the trends of the West breaking into our lives bring their own trends to the traditions of wearing these jewelry. Therefore, many are puzzled, sincerely not understanding which of the options is right.

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A bit of historical theory

The very tradition of wearing rings is incredibly ancient, because the first mention of them was dated 6 thousand years earlier. We are talking about documentary sources, since archaeological finds are even older.

Initially, the rings served as confirmation of the status and nobility of their owner, and only after hundreds of years they began to attach some sacred meaning. Here are a few facts about this:

• For the first time, the appearance of the ring, which symbolized the creation of a family, can be traced back to Ancient Egypt, where the tradition of giving his lover became quite common among the population. And then for the first time his wearing on the ring finger began to be traced, however, it is not known which hand.
• In Russia, something similar to engagement was also accepted, when a young man gave his beloved a ring of sedge or hemp, thereby confirming his serious intentions. When the guy asked his parents for “hand and heart”, they gave a metal ring, which was a symbol of wealth and the groom's ability to support his family.

Important! In those days, all metals were considered valuable, so no particular importance was attached to which of which ring was made.

By the beginning of the eighteenth century, the popularity of rings had grown so much that men began to wear them as jewelry. By its location, it was possible to determine at what stage of romantic relations its owner is. For example:

• The decorated middle finger said that at the moment a person wants nothing but friendship.
• A little ring on the little finger testified that his master was an opponent of marriage.
• It on the index finger indicated a desire to meet a worthy couple.
• In a man in love, a ring flaunted on the ring finger of his left hand.

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Wearing tradition

In fact, there is no one general rule that would govern the preference for the hand on which to put on the ring during marriage. Often, the separation in the question on which hand the married women wear the ring occurs according to the religious principle:

• among the Orthodox, the bulk wears engagement rings on his right hand;
• Catholics, for the most part, are on the left.

Important! This is not some kind of scientific interpretation, just:

• For the Orthodox, the right hand is a symbol of honesty and truthfulness, by it they perform the sign of the Cross, and therefore they wear the ring that way.
• Those who wear jewelry on their left hands have similar beliefs. Also, the tradition of wearing a ring on this hand is due to the fact that this hand is next to the heart, so blood will go from the wedding ring directly to it, which will help make the marriage lasting and happy.

The exceptions are the Armenians, who, regardless of their religion (usually this is Orthodoxy), do not honor the tradition of wearing on the right hand. Also, tradition does not quite correspond to religion in Poland and Germany, where zealous Catholics, after marriage, put on engagement rings on the right hand.

Important! In Germany, it is customary to wear a jewelry donated during an engagement on the left hand, and during the wedding, it is “sent” to the right.

As a rule, traditions are approximately the same for everyone, therefore, on which hand married men wear a ring, first of all, depends on the established customs in society. In the post-Soviet space, this is often the right hand, the Europeans - the left.

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Finger selection

Over time, traditions regarding the choice of finger to wear a wedding ring changed quite often. Sometimes it happens that he is not worn at all on his hand, but, for example, on a chain as a pendant.

Important! This custom is quite common among gypsies, since they believe that in this way the symbol of their love is as close to their heart as possible.

Quite interesting were the medieval rules, which mutated and corresponded very often. Each of the specific princes wanted to carry out as many reforms as possible, even in such trifles. Therefore, cases of wearing hoops on the index or thumb were not uncommon.

However, today the question of on which hand married women and men wear a ring is of little interest to anyone, because it has become an unwritten tradition to wear it on a ring finger. Why so? There are several versions:

• The most practical is based on the theory that it does not interfere with work, because it is protected by other fingers.
• The historical version says that even the inhabitants of ancient Egypt found that it was from this finger that the artery goes straight to the heart, and therefore decorated it with such a romantic symbol.
• Fans of the symbolic theory are sure that each finger on a hand symbolizes one of the generations, so the thumbs - parents, the index fingers - sisters and brothers, the middle ones - you, but the nameless ones - your soul mate.

Important! Therefore, the ring as a symbol of the invincibility of feelings and infinity adorns precisely that finger, which is the prototype of your spouse.

In our country, there are even traditions that are associated with wearing a wedding band after a marriage break:

• On which hand are the rings of a woman whose husband died or died? Of course, this is the opposite of the one on which the engagement was worn.
• In the case of the death of her husband, quite often his ring was put on his left hand, and his own was left in the same place. But this custom was not widely used, since it is not customary for us to remove wedding rings from the deceased.

Important! They also wear a ring on their left hand after a marriage break, if, of course, someone wants to wear it.

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Engagement rings

Many consider the engagement a new tradition that has appeared on the expanses of the post-Soviet space. But she has deep roots in our lands. As mentioned earlier, a certain semblance of a ritual can be traced already in Ancient Russia. It was most widely distributed in the 17th and early 18th centuries among the richer sections of the population.

The ceremony was held directly in the church, where the future groom gave his beloved a ring. Taking the jewelry, she promised to be his wife. And already in the second half of the 18th century, officially the engagement was connected with the wedding, as a result of which it disappeared from use until the beginning of the 21st century.

Even at that time there was no strict regulation regarding engagement rings, or what it should be, so the historical traditions in each country have developed differently. For example, back in the Principality of Moscow, at first it was customary to give silver, replacing it with gold at the wedding, then the man wore a jewelry made of gold, and the woman got silver.

Important! In some European countries, the engagement ring was worn only before the wedding, then it was removed, turning it into a family heirloom. And to this day, some families pass old rings from generation to generation.

Today, there are frequent cases when they wear an engagement and engagement ring together or after the wedding they dress him in the other hand. But this tradition is not very common, since it is customary to put a wedding ring on the right hand, but the decoration of the left hand is considered a symbol of the destruction of a marriage or the death of one of the spouses.

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Stock footage

As a result, we can say that there are no strict rules regarding the hand on which married women and men wear a ring. The option that is most common is a hand change. That is, if after marriage, a woman wore a wedding band on her right hand, then during widowhood - on her left. Divorced, as a rule, prefer to completely remove the engagement ring.