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If you compare a wedding with a romantic film, the climax of this is always when the man puts his ring onto the bride’s fourth finger of the left hand to tell the world that they are married. But have you ever wondered why this finger? Why does it have to be this finger between our middle and pinky finger? Today, we have the answer for you.
This finger is called the ring finger. Its name already tells us that this finger is for a ring to be put on. The origin of this name is from a myth. During the Roman Empire, people believed that the ring finger is nourishing the blood of love. Even though the technology back then wasn’t as advanced as now, traditional belief was that there was a vein directly connected from the heart to the fourth finger of the left hand, and therefore it was a symbol of love.
This is why this vessel is named “vena amori”, which in Latin means “vein of love”. After the evolution of cultures, this theory of a blood vein connecting to one’s heart has been cited in western cultures as one of the reansons the wedding ring was placed on the fourth finger, or “ring finger”. Because of this, placing a ring round the fourth finger of the left hand represents the love between a man and woman in all the days of their lives until death do them part.
In medieval Europe, in christian wedding ceremonies the rings were placed in sequence on the index, middle, and ring fingers of the left hand, symbolizing the trinity (the Father, Son and the Holy Spirit). The ring was later then left on the ring finger only after time had passed.
Today, most western countries wear wedding rings on the ring finger of the left hand, but in some orthodox Christian countries, German, or Chili the wedding ring is worn on the ring finger of the right hand. A wedding ring is not a traditional part of the religious Muslim wedding, and therefore is not included in most Islamic countries.
In Thailand, our traditional wedding ceremony doesn’t include putting a wedding ring on each other, but after watern influences, we took over the culture of wearing a wedding ring into our traditional ceremony. This is why the current Thai wedding ceremony is as it is now.
Wearing a ring is the best symbol representing marriage and an expression of love between a man and a woman. A ring is a connector bonding the heart of the two together through the vein in the fourth finger of the left hand, straight to the heart.
So, next time when you see people putting a ring onto someone, keep in mind that they are connecting the two hearts together both physically and mentally.
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