- Feb 5, 2002
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There is a historical reason why wedding and engagement rings are worn on the fourth finger.
You may have heard that people wear their wedding and/or engagement ring on the finger between the pinky and middle finger “because it’s the finger that has a vein that goes straight to the heart,” or something of the sort.
This belief dates back to Ancient Rome, probably inherited from the Egyptians or Greeks. They called the blood vessel in this finger the vena amoris (vein of love) and thought that in this way lovers connected their love through their rings.
However, current knowledge of anatomy tells us that there is no such single vein that goes directly to the heart, and that all fingers — not just the ring finger — have veins that in one way or another connect to the heart. But the symbolism has remained over time.
Continued below.
aleteia.org
You may have heard that people wear their wedding and/or engagement ring on the finger between the pinky and middle finger “because it’s the finger that has a vein that goes straight to the heart,” or something of the sort.
This belief dates back to Ancient Rome, probably inherited from the Egyptians or Greeks. They called the blood vessel in this finger the vena amoris (vein of love) and thought that in this way lovers connected their love through their rings.
However, current knowledge of anatomy tells us that there is no such single vein that goes directly to the heart, and that all fingers — not just the ring finger — have veins that in one way or another connect to the heart. But the symbolism has remained over time.
Try this out with your own fingers
Continued below.
Why is our fourth finger the “ring finger”?
There is a tradition for why wedding and engagement rings are worn on the fourth finger.
aleteia.org
