A Brief History of Wedding Rings

In the run up to the Royal wedding next week it has been confirmed that Prince William will not wear a wedding ring. However his bride to be Kate Middleton will – a band made from gold from the Clogau St David’s mine at Bontddu, in north Wales. Gold from the Clogau St David’s mine has been used for a number of royal wedding bands, including those for the Queen, the Queen Mother and Diana, Princess of Wales.

This resent has sparked various discussions and debates about the importance of wedding rings and the reasons for and against wearing them.

A wedding ring symbolizes a promise of never-ending love, and loyalty. In short, it is the physical representation of the wedding vows. The history of the wedding ring, however, is not quite as romantic. Throughout history, the wedding ring has symbolized various parts of the traditional wedding vows, but rarely all at the same time.

The wedding rings shape represents an unbroken promise of love and commitment. The circle has no beginning and no end; therefore, the marriage has no end. It is believed that many past cultures shared the same beliefs about the circles.

The earliest wedding rings were not placed around the finger, but around the extremities. Since mortality rates were high and life expectancies were low, people came to the conclusion that a person’s spirit could just flow out of the body, ending his life. They often tried interesting and superstitious ideas to keep the spirit intact. For example, an ancient husband would wrap twigs and grass around his new wife’s ankles and wrists, believing this would prolong her life.

In ancient times, the Egyptians and the Romans shared the belief that a vein from the fourth finger lead directly to the heart. As such, it seemed a logical place for the placement of the wedding band. The practice was passed down and the fourth finger is now universally known as the ring finger. Science has since disproved that theory, but it is still romantic to think that our wedding rings are on a direct path to our hearts.

Archaeologists have found references to wedding rings among the Ancient Egyptians’ hieroglyphics. The Egyptians shaped twigs, hemp, or plant stems into circles and placed them on their brides’ ring fingers. The plant rings quickly decayed or were broken and had to be frequently replaced. The circles represented undying love, much as they do today. Apparently they did not represent fidelity, though, as many of the Ancient Egyptians were polygamous.

Although the Ancient Romans placed a ring on the fourth finger of their wives hands, the practice had little to do with love and devotion. Rather, wives were a possession to the Romans and the ring was a sign of ownership. Ancient Roman women had no voice in this decision; there was no proposal. Once the women were captured and ‘ringed,’ they were married.

Men of the Far and Middle East had a unique way of ensuring that their brides remained faithful. They created ‘puzzle rings,’ rings that were collapsible. If a wife tried to remove her ring, the ring would fall apart. The ring could be put back together, but only if the correct arrangement was known. If the husband had to travel for business or during wartime, the puzzle rings were used to keep the wife true.

In the early days of American colonization, the Puritan way of thinking said that any form of adornment was wasteful and immoral. Of course, this meant there were no rings. Instead, men gave their brides thimbles as tokens of undying love and devotion. The resourceful brides often removed part of the thimble and created makeshift rings.

As time went by and the rules became looser, the move towards modern rings began. Materials for the rings have varied through the years, depending on personal wealth and the nation’s economy. Wedding rings of the past have been made of leather, stone, aluminum, and metal. Today, wedding rings are almost always made of gold, silver, palladium or platinum.