Why wedding ring worn on third finger
Modern "authorities" on etiquette follow their pred
ecessors in matrimonial procedure, in urging that the w
edding ring always be worn on the third finger.
Before medical science discovered how the circulato
ry system functioned, people believed that a vein of bl
ood ran directly from the third finger on the left hand
to the heart. Because of the hand-heart connection, the
y chose the descriptive name vena amori, Latin for the
vein of love, for this particular vein.
Based upon this name, their contemporaries, purport
ed experts in the field of matrimonial etiquette, wrote
that it would only be fitting that the wedding ring be
worn on this finger. By wearing the ring on the third f
inger of the left hand, a married couple symbolically d
eclares their eternal love for each other. |