RING IN THE LEFT HAND IS A MYTH!

Modern "authorities" on etiquette follow their predecessors in matrimonial procedure, in urging that the wedding ring always be worn on the third finger.

Before medical science discovered how the circulatory system functioned, people believed that a vein of blood ran directly from the third finger on the left hand to the heart. Because of the hand-heart connection, they chose the descriptive name vena amori, Latin for the vein of love, for this particular vein.

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 third finger of the left hand, a married couple symbolically declares their eternal love for each other.

Vena amoris is a Latin name meaning, literally, "vein of love". Traditional belief established that this vein ran directly from the heart to the fourth finger of the left hand. This theory has been cited in western cultures as one of the reasons the engagement ring and/or wedding ring was placed on the fourth finger, or "ring finger".

It is to be noted that this traditional belief is a fallacy as all the fingers in the hand have a similar vein structure.

Please refer Wikipedia for more information.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vena_amoris

The choice of finger is also less than settled until recent times; during the 17th century in England it was not unusual to wear the wedding ring on the thumb.^[1] Gauls and Britons wore their rings on the middle finger,^[2] and the choice of right or left hand appears relatively dependent on culture; though cultures that use either the right or left ring finger both claim a historical connection to thevena amoris. The use of wedding and betrothal rings was not commonplace in the Roman Empire until the 2nd century; which also contradicts versions of the story which claim that this tradition was brought to Rome in the 3rd century BC.

The strong possibility exists, based on the lack of concrete sources, that this story is a combination of ancient beliefs in the mystical properties of the ring finger, smatterings of legend, and shrewd marketing by the jewellery industry, which has in the past demonstrated a willingness to exploit myths and legends to increase ring sales.^[3]

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