The wedding ring symbolizes a time-honored tradition of several countries across the globe. Wedding rings represent the bonding of a man and woman and reflect eternal love, dedication, mutual commitment, fidelity and honor. It is widely believed that the concept of wedding rings originated in ancient Egypt where it was a custom to create plant circles to glorify immortal love. Egyptians considered the second finger of the left hand - which eventually came to be called the ring finger - contained a special vein that was connected directly to the heart. They therefore considered this finger as the right one for wearing the wedding ring. Amongst the Egyptians the belief was rings made two souls into one. The Romans also copied the Egyptians custom with regards to the wedding ring finger and its significance, and Roman men would claim ownership of their women by presenting a ring. In early times, Roman used iron rings during weddings as iron symbolized strength. But this practice was soon changed in the third century with usage of silver and gold rings because of their permanent goodness while iron began to rust. For the Romans acceptance of the ring by a young lady was a binding, legal agreement and the girl was no longer free to interact with other men. Similar is the history and custom of wedding rings in Asian countries. Asian men used these wedding rings not only to establish ownership of their wives, but the wives were forced to wear a puzzle ring when the husbands were away. The husband would detect immediately upon his return whether any of his wives had been unfaithful to him by removing the ring whilst he was away - as the ring was designed to disintegrate upon removal. Europeans were quite sentimental about both engagement as well as the wedding rings. This ring was given to a loved one to denote promise, fidelity, love and eternal togetherness. The historical background of wedding rings in America is somewhat amusing. During Colonial times, all items of jewels were banned in America as they considered jewels devoid of any significance. Instead, men offered a thimble to his beloved as a token of integrity, eternal love and togetherness. However, once the marriage was over, the women tended to remove the bottom of the thimble to make it resemble a ring. The practice of presenting a ring during betrothal and wedding has been there since times immemorial, and it was all along deemed as exchanging of a contract for permanent bondage. Unlike ancient times when wedding rings were made of hair, grass, plants and other fragile materials, today we make wedding rings using metals such as such as platinum, titanium, white gold, gold and using stones like sapphires, diamonds, rubies and emeralds. A ring, as all of us know, is a complete unbroken circle with no end or beginning - which is taken to symbolize an eternal relationship. It was widely acknowledged that the greatest gift lovers can give each another is the security and safety that only the ring symbolizes. Wearing of wedding rings today sends out a clear and unmistakable message about a person’s marital status. As time passes traditions change and, nowadays, it is not only the brides who wear wedding rings as a symbol of their lasting affection, fidelity and commitment.
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