Rings are worn by both men and women, on fingers and toes, often for no reason other than decoration. But there is of course one ring that carries meaning.

"A ring on the 4th finger on the left hand means that you’re married or a symbol to signify marital relationships,” explains Hope Mbabazi, a jewellery hawker with four rings on her fingers.

A wedding ring symbolizes marriage: a spouse wears it to indicate a marital commitment to fidelity. But where does the tradition come from? Some believe that there is a vein in that finger which runs directly to the heart.

In older times, wedding rings did not only signify a sign of love, but were also linked to the bestowal of ‘earnest money’.

According to the prayer book of Edward VI of England: after the words ‘with this ring I thee wed’ follow the words ‘This gold and silver I give thee’, at which point the groom was supposed to hand a leather purse filled with gold and silver coins to the bride.

Originally connected to the exchange of valuables, the ring is now a symbol of eternal love and devotion. In traditional Hausa culture (Nigerian) a ring given to a woman by a man other than her husband places her under his control for as long as she consents to wear it.

In medieval Europe, the Christian wedding ceremony places the ring in sequence from the index, middle, and ring fingers of the left hand, representing the trinity, God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit.

In a few European countries, the ring is worn on the left hand prior to marriage, and 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, and then moves it to the right hand after the wedding.

In Norway, Russia, Bulgaria, Poland, Germany, Austria, Denmark, Latvia, and some countries of former Yugoslavia and in Spain (except in Catalonia) the wedding ring is worn on the ring finger on the right hand.

In the Jewish wedding ceremony, the groom places the ring on the bride’s index finger, and not ring finger; the ring is usually moved to the ring finger after the ceremony.

In the Indian tradition, the left hand is considered suspicious. Hence the wedding ring is worn on the right hand.

Times are changing

Mbabazi explained that more and more women don’t really care about the meaning attached to the ‘wedding ring finger’.

"I normally wear a small solitare ring which I bought myself, on my 4th finger on the right hand yet I am not married and on my left hand, I am wearing an accessory ring on my 3rd finger which I do not attach with any other meaning,” she elaborated. Women will wear a ring on that finger because they think it looks ‘empty’ without.

"I know a lady in town who wears rings on the fourth finger yet she is not married, but it’s simply because the ring couldn’t fit into her fingers other than the fourth one and she is often gets mistaken as being married,” Mbabazi said. Women have been known to wear a ring on the fourth finger to let other believed he or she is married.

Mbabazi however said that nowadays, many men and women do bother to check whether some one is already attached to one another by a ring symbol before pursuing her or him.

She further said that wearing a diamond ring you bought for yourself on the right hand could symbolize being an independent woman, that’s what people today consider to be.

Different meanings

Joseph Twahirwa who has two rings on his fingers but is not married, says that wearing a ring on your last finger means that you want to stay single.

"I heard that wearing a ring on the middle finger right hand means engaged, and I can’t tell what it means when one wears a ring on the index finger,” he said.

"Things have totally changed, for example; I wear my mom’s engagement ring on my fourth finger, left hand, it’s like an accessory but I get many questions from women all the time "are you married?” he said.

Contact: pauluskayiggwa@yahoo.com