The habit of wearing married engagement rings has been accepted since antiquity. But, despite the prescription of this fashion, till now the marriage of men and women has a dilemma - on which finger to wear an engagement ring.
On which finger do they wear the wedding ring of a married girl?
One of the most popular legendary stories about the engagement ring is the story of the betrothal of Mary and Joseph. According to legend, the carpenter wore his ring on the left hand, but on which finger - the views diverge. Someone believes that the nameless, the other - the average. Famous artists often depicted the moment of engagement in their paintings, but not all adhered to the classical version - Rafael and Perugino, for example, portrayed Joseph, who stringed the ring on the finger of Mary's right hand.
In the Middle Ages, there was also no agreement on these symbols of marriage - virtually every ruler by his decree enacted on which finger the wedding ring of his subjects is now bearing. And the choice in this case could fall absolutely on any finger of both hands. The English of the 17th century, for example, wore this symbol of marriage on their thumbs, while the Germans wore the little finger.
Since in Christianity the answer to the question of choosing a finger for an engagement ring remains controversial, historians have tried to turn to other sources. In ancient Egypt, with a choice of hands, historians were also undecided, but the finger of the inhabitants of this country preferred the nameless. Incidentally, in ancient Egypt, the metal strip connected in a ring was a symbol of pure and eternal love. The wealthy Egyptians gave their beloved gold rings, and the less prosperous - from copper, bronze or silver.
There is an interesting version of the explanation of the reason that it is the ring fingers that are chosen for the wedding rings. According to this myth, all the fingers symbolize close relatives - children, parents, brothers and sisters, and nameless - spouses. If you fold your palms together, pressing your fingers to each other, then all your fingers, except for the nameless ones, are easy enough to spread apart. This symbolizes the main idea of marriage - people make a marriage to live for each other, serve each other. Children, parents, brothers and sisters leave the house, and only the couple will stay together forever.
On which finger do they wear an engagement ring today?
In modern society, the custom of stringing an engagement ring on one finger or another predetermine religion and place of residence. Adherents of the Catholic faith choose the ring finger of the left hand, tk. believe that the wedding ring should be worn on the same side as the heart. And, in addition, there is a long tradition that the ring finger of this hand is directly connected to the heart by a vein, vein or nerve (depending on the interpretation). The Orthodox put on the symbol of matrimonial fidelity on the fourth finger of the right hand, proceeding from the notion that "right" is a relative of the word "truth", moreover, this cross is also performed by the cross.
On the right hand symbols of marriage ties are worn by Germans, Indians, Norwegians, Spaniards, Russians, Ukrainians, Poles, Greeks, Venezuelans. Armenians, Azerbaijanis,
On which finger are the widow's wedding ring and divorced?
There are no special rules about what finger should be the wedding ring after the loss of a spouse or divorce. The most frequent option is a change of hands, i.e. if after the wedding the woman wore a wedding ring on her right hand, then during widowhood - on the left. Divorced for the most part prefer to take the wedding ring completely, so that it does not cause painful memories.