<P> Before medical science discovered how the circulatory system functioned, people believed that a vein ran directly from the fourth finger on the left hand to the heart . Because of the hand--heart connection, they chose the descriptive name vena amoris, Latin for the vein of love, for this particular vein . </P> <P> Based upon this name, their contemporaries, purported 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 fourth finger of the left hand, a married couple symbolically declares their eternal love for each other . </P> <P> In Britain, only women tended to wear a wedding ring until the 1st and 2nd World Wars, when married male soldiers started to wear rings to remind them of their partner . </P> <P> In Western cultures, a wedding ring is traditionally worn on the fourth finger, commonly called the ring finger in western culture . This developed from the Roman "anulus pronubis" when a man would give a ring to the woman at their betrothal ceremony . Blessing the wedding ring and putting it on the bride's finger dates from the 11th century . In medieval Europe, during the Christian wedding ceremony the ring was placed in sequence on the thumb, index, middle, and ring fingers of the left hand . The ring was then left on the ring finger . In a few European countries, the ring is worn on the left hand prior to marriage, then transferred to the right during the ceremony . For example, a Greek Orthodox bride wears the ring on the left hand prior to the ceremony, then moves it to the right hand after the wedding . In England, the 1549 Prayer Book declared "the ring shall be placed on the left hand". By the 17th and 18th centuries the ring could be found on any finger after the ceremony--even on the thumb . </P>

Why do you wear a ring on your right ring finger