The Wedding Ring – A brief history

My last post sparked an interest in me to learn more about the tradition of the wedding ring. Interestingly, most of the information I found was through websites of jewelers. Who else would have ample reason to give the history and significance of this cherished piece of jewelry? Sell the idea of the ring and you sell the ring itself.

The wedding ring is one of the oldest traditions surrounding marriage in the known history of mankind. So here is a compilation of what I found – all you ever wanted to know, or not. Though I couldn’t include everything I found, I listed my sources at the end of the post so you can further research it if you choose. And here is a picture of mine. Not the actual ring I wear on my finger, but the one from the James Avery website. The script is Hebrew and says, “My beloved is mine and I am his” from Song of Solomon.

 

The wedding band is a symbol of unity. It is also the symbol of the sun, earth and universe, and represents holiness, perfection and peace. The never-ending circle of a wedding band symbolizes eternal love by its lack of a beginning and an end. This tradition comes from an ancient tribal custom where brides decorated their wrists and ankles with circlets of grass.

The exchanging of wedding rings between couples is an age-old tradition that will always instill a sense of magic and superstition. This symbol of unity signifies that wherever you may go alone, you will always come back to each other.

The wedding band dates back to 17th century BC Egypt where wedding rings had a supernatural significance. A never-ending band made of twisted plant materials such as hemp, signified eternal love between two people. The Egyptians placed the rings on the fourth finger of the left hand, based on a belief called vena amoris or love vein. It was believed that the vein from that finger lead directly to the heart, thereby linking the couple’s destiny.

The Romans were a little less romantic. Their iron wedding bands were not a symbol of love, but signified a binding legal agreement of ownership by husbands, who regarded rings as tokens of purchase. It also represented protection to the wife—a protection against challengers seizing her legal and rightful position in a power grab. As with the Egyptians, the Romans believed in vena amoris and wore the bands on the fourth finger of their left hand.

In ancient cultures it was believed that the third finger of the left hand, had a special vein called vena amoris, the vein of “love,” that ran from the “ring finger” finger directly to the heart. There is, of course, no scientific basis for this romantic theory, but the custom has, nevertheless, endured through generations. It was King Edward VI of England who decreed that the third finger of the left hand be designated as the “official” ring finger and, in 1549, the Book of Common Prayer sealed the deal with the designation of the left hand as the marriage hand. Despite the designations, in many European countries brides wear their wedding rings on the right hand.

Even after the discovery that there was no vena amoris, the custom of wearing the wedding band on the third finger survived. Early Christian marriages included a ritual that landed the wedding band on the third finger: As the priest recited, “In the name of the Father, the Son, and the holy Ghost,” he took the ring and touched the thumb, the first finger, and then the second finger. When he said, “Amen,” he placed the ring on the third finger, sealing the marriage. The wedding band has occupied the third finger into the 21st century, except for a short period during the Elizabethan era, when whimsy decreed that the wedding ring reside on the thumb.

Russian wedding rings include a combination of three different colors of gold, linked rings. These rings are believed to represent the Holy Trinity and are still very popular today. Elizabethans wore a version of this ring called the Gimmal Ring.

In the Irish Claddagh ring, a heart (symbolizing love) is surrounded by clasped hands (symbolizing friendship) and a crown (symbolizing eternity). This ring is popular and can serve as a friendship ring, an engagement ring, or a wedding ring.

In the Middle East, puzzle ring wedding bands were worn by ladies to prove faithfulness to their husband. A puzzle wedding band is actually made up of many rings that, when worn correctly fit together to form a band ring. A lady who wore a wedding band showed to the world, that she was married and would be faithful to her husband. If she ever took the ring off her finger, it would be very difficult for her to get the puzzle rings correctly together again and the husband would know that his wife had been unfaithful.

In the Renaissance, jewelers created a new kind of wedding ring called the gimmel, or twin ring. It consisted of two or more interlocking rings, joined by a pivot, so they could slide together into one ring symbolizing the union of two lives. The gimmel ring has always remained popular, in a variety of incarnations. A spinoff of the gimmel ring was formed so that the hoops terminated in a pair of hands, which clasped together when the ring was closed. This variation was known as a fede ring (Italian for faith). It was introduced around 1600 at the very same time that the Puritans tried–unsuccessfully–to abolish the tradition of the wedding ring.

In colonial America, jewelry was considered to have no moral value and was largely prohibited. Ladies wore thimbles as engagement or promise rings, after marriage the bottom portion of the thimble was taken off leaving just the top portion on the finger. This looked quite like a wedding band and the tradition carried on for many years.

Ancient Northerns believed that a lover’s knot was a symbol of love, faith, and friendship. The knot was formed out of the hair of the beloved, woven into a knot that was then worn as a ring. Among the Anglo-Saxons a part of the “wed” was a ring worn on her right hand.

Historically, the betrothal ring was the only one a bride could expect from her groom. Rings have been used throughout the centuries to mark engagements. Rings with gemstones were popular in the 18th and 19th centuries. The creative gentleman might present his beloved with a gemstone ring where the first letter of the stones within the setting spelled out his name or a word such as, for example, “dearest” (diamond, emerald, amethyst, ruby, epidote, sapphire, turquoise). Medieval wedding rings were often set with colored gemstones, because of the symbolism of the colors. Gentlemen in the Middle Ages often kept a betrothal ring suspended from the band of their hat . . . ready to send to their chosen beloved.

The word “betrothed” comes from the Anglo-Saxon “troweth,” meaning truth. Betrothed means giving a truth or pledge and an engagement ring becomes an outward indication to everyone that a woman has pledged her love to one man alone.

The Greek “adamant” means steadfast or invincible. It is from this word that the diamond gets its name. Diamonds were believed to be invincible, indestructible, and exceedingly strong. It is easy to understand then why it was chosen to symbolize purity and light, protected against evil. Legend tells us that the diamond’s sparkle rose from the lovers’ fires, and that it possessed great harmonizing powers. The icy fire of the true white diamond remains the foremost symbol of love.

The number seems astronomical, but, believe it or not, more than 6.7 billion dollars are spent annually on engagement rings in the United States.

Ceremonies differ, vows are often unique, but the tradition of the wedding band has survived through the ages, and probably will—for all eternity.

It is the weakest of the fingers on the hand, as it shares a flexor muscle with the middle and little fingers. It is the only finger that cannot be fully extended by itself separately.

-wikipedia

http://searchwarp.com/swa6571.htm

http://www.hudsonvalleyweddings.com/guide/rings.htm

http://www.danforthdiamond.com/education/metal/band_significance.htm

http://www.articlecity.com/articles/women/article_897.shtml