The INSIDER Summary:
- The designation of the fourth finger on the left hand as the "ring finger" dates back to 1549.
- It was a way for the Anglican Church to distinguish their traditions from the Catholic Church.
- There's a myth from ancient Rome that the finger has a "lover's vein" leading to the heart. That's wrong.
- Most Westerners adopted the custom, but different religions have their own traditions.
Most wedding traditions can be traced back toreligious practice. And the reason people wear the wedding band on the fourth finger on the left hand dates back to one of the most contentious religious debates of all time.
The actual use of wedding rings — or wedding bands — dates back at least 6,000 years, to ancient Egypt. But the decision to wear them on what's now known as the "ring finger" can be traced back only around 450 years, when the Church of England broke off with the Catholic Church.
The Church of England chose the left hand because it was the opposite of what Catholics did.
The rule that we should wear wedding rings on our left hand comes from "The Book of Common Prayer," a collection of prayer books used by the Anglican Church from around 1549. Following the break with the Catholic Church — which is commonly known as the Reformation — the Anglican Church needed service and worship books that were different from those of the Catholic Church.
Prior to the Reformation, most of Europe — and therefore the Catholic Church — put the wedding ring on the right hand because it was associated with strength, writes museum conservator George Monger in "Marriage Customs of the World: From Henna to Honeymoons."
"The Book of Common Prayer"instructs Reformers to put the ring "upon the fowerth finger of the womans left hande" instead. It's one of many traditions that were meant to distinguish the Anglican Church from the Catholic Church and other versions of Christianity in Europe.
No, the tradition doesn't come from Egyptians or a "lover's vein."
The idea of wearing wedding rings on fourth finger on the left hand is sometimes attributed to Appian of Alexandria, a Greco-Roman historian who lived in the second century. He wrote that the ancient Egyptians believed that there was a nerve that ran from that finger to the heart, confusing it with a vein and calling it "vena amoris," or "lover's vein." This is wrong. The idea was revived by Levinus Lemnius, a famed 16th century Dutch physician, who wrote that rubbing a golden ring on the finger "affects the heart in women" and "refresheth the fountain of life," which is also wrong.
In reality, Romansargued vociferously over which finger the wedding ring should be worn; the first-century Roman Pliny the Elder favored the pinkie.
Not everyone wears a wedding ring on that finger.
Religions other than Christianity don't necessarily put the ring on the fourth finger on the left hand. In a Jewish wedding, for example, the ring is placed on the index finger so that it's more easily seen. It can be moved to another finger after the ceremony. And in Islamic and Hindu weddings, there isn't necessarily a ring at all.
The use of the wedding ring also came under fire during other points of Christian history. Early Quakers refused to wear it, and the briefly lived Puritan Parliament in 17th-century England banned the wedding ring because of its "heathenish origin,"according to Monger.
Today, most Westerners, even Catholics, have adopted the practice of wearing the wedding ring on the ring finger, but there are still pockets of people who keep their local traditions.
Join the conversation about this story »
NOW WATCH: Here's what those white marks on your nails say about your health