How did the Wedding Ring become a tradition?
Many wedding traditions date back centuries, but the wedding
ring is one of the oldest.
The first version date back to prehistoric times when they
would bind the wife’s arms and legs, this was because the life expectancy was
very low, and the people believed that a person sprite flowed throughout their body,
so in order to stop her soul escaping they would tie a piece of the binding
rope (grass) to her finger to prolong her life. This tradition evolved from
grass, to rope, to leather, and then as it is now metal.
The more expensive the material, the more love was shown to
the receiver and the value of the ring showed the wealth or status of the
giver, showing the ability to financially support the women.
History says that the Romans believed that the metal ring
should be worn on the third finger of the left hand because that was the “Vena
Amoris” meaning the “vein of Love” and the left hand because the heart is
closer to the left arm.
As people moved around the world this metal band become one
of the wide-spread traditions.
Later traditions were the diamonds, the first engagement
ring to have a diamond in was not until 1400’s but as they were very rare and
hard to find they did not catch on until the 1700’s when new mines were
discovered, and the engagement ring became wide-spread. Today we use diamonds
in wedding rings as diamonds are the hardest and strongest mineral on earth.
Ancient Egyptian’s would have given rings to the people they
were intimate with, they were the first people to wear ring for love and both
men and women would wear them, they would be a band with no end to symbolise
eternal love but this did not last as Ancient Romans saw their wife’s a
possessions and they had to wear the ring as a sign of ownership. Men did not
wear wedding Rings until much later. The Romans also started the marriage laws.
In the middle east they also used rings as a symbol of ownership,
but they had a different way of ensuring that their wives stayed loyal but
creating “puzzle rings” so if their wife tried to take it off it would fall
apart.
Men’s wedding rings are the newest tradition, in the new
world men were recognised as the dominant sex so they did not feel the need to
wear a wedding ring but when world war 2 started men began to wear weddings
ring to remember their wives back home, this became a tradition for military
men but after the Korean war it became more popular for civil men to wear
wedding rings. To this day men and women have many different styles to choose from,
but it is a symbol that has grown and will continue to be passed down
throughout the ages.
