Myth Why Wedding Rings Be Worn On Left Hand

​​If somebody asked you at age six, “What finger does the wedding ring wear on?” you most likely knew the appropriate response. It’s truly common for most people, particularly in the United States, to wear wedding ring on the left ring finger. However, why is the wedding ring worn on the left hand fourth finger? And do brides and grooms have to? Here is the story behind why married couples wear wedding rings on the left hand and whether or not you should follow this custom. 

The narrative of why the wedding ring to be worn on the left hand should be traced back to the ancient times. During that era, the Romans believed that the vein in the ring finger, which was the fourth finger on the left hand,  passed directly to one's heart. As a result of this belief, they called that vein as:  vein of love. Therefore, to solidify a union which was based purely on love, they’d placed the ring on that finger as to house the "vein of love" to signify the romance that the newly wedded couple shared. It was a pretty adorable physical portrayal of two hearts being connected together, wouldn’t you say?

Shockingly, nowadays, our modern-day understanding of biology somehow proposes that all human beings' fingers have veins connected to heart. What can I say? Screw science!

Saying so, that does not mean you should not wear wedding rings on the right hand. If you want to wear your wedding rings on the right hand (on the fourth finger), you’re free to do so. If doing so, you would be following examples of many central  and northern European couples, such as: Norway, Austria, Denmark, Poland, Belgium, Germany, Russia, Latvia, Bulgaria, and Ukranie.

Orthodox Christians, too, traditionally wore rings on the right. In India, the left hand used to be considered as unclean and unlucky, so wedding rings were worn on the right. But nowadays, either hand can be a home for wedding rings.