# Engineer’s ring **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [September 5, 2021, 12:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/engineer-s-ring/950119 "2021-09-05T00:05:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Kropotkin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kropotkin/32/18045_2.png) [@Kropotkin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kropotkin)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2021, 12:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/engineer-s-ring/950119/1 "2021-09-05T00:05:42Z")
Today I learned that the Iron Rings given to Canadian engineers in a special ceremony when they graduate are 1) more often made of stainless steel 2) not made from iron from the Quebec bridge that collapsed and led to Canadian engineers creating the ceremony, which includes the reading of a poem by Kipling written especially for this. ---
**Author:** ![K364](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/k364/32/5_2.png) [@K364](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/K364)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2021, 1:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/engineer-s-ring/950119/2 "2021-09-05T01:30:03Z")
I remembered coming across this youtube. I didn’t listen to all of it but it might have answers. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/LMQa5DAeEls/maxresdefault.jpg "The Extremely Bizarre Engineering Rituals of Canada (And the Fascinating Way They Came to Be)") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LMQa5DAeEls) ---
**Author:** ![Tabco](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tabco/32/7644_2.png) [@Tabco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tabco)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2021, 1:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/engineer-s-ring/950119/3 "2021-09-05T01:56:43Z")
There’s a similar type of [ring thing](https://www.asce.org/career-growth/ethics/order-of-the-engineer) going on the US, but doesn’t seem to be as widespread. No mention of it at the school I graduated from. ---
**Author:** ![DesertDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desertdog/32/11503_2.png) [@DesertDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DesertDog)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2021, 6:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/engineer-s-ring/950119/4 "2021-09-05T06:19:02Z")
[Wiki](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iron_Ring) has an article that answers most of your questions. - Some are stainess steel but most are the traditional iron - That the iron is from the collapsed Quebec bridge is just a story - Kipling did write the poem used during the ceremony - Canada’s first ceremony was in 1925 while the US has a similar ceremony but only since 1970 ---
**Author:** ![Kropotkin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kropotkin/32/18045_2.png) [@Kropotkin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kropotkin)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2021, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/engineer-s-ring/950119/5 "2021-09-05T16:11:06Z")
I didn’t actually ask any questions, just noted that I’d already found the answers. ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2021, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/engineer-s-ring/950119/6 "2021-09-05T17:30:17Z")
I’m jealous, I would have liked to get a ring like that. I even didn’t have a ceremony, I just walked into the office, showed my student ID and got my diploma handed out by the secretary, and that was it. ---
**Author:** ![Horatius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/horatius/32/3572_2.png) [@Horatius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatius)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2021, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/engineer-s-ring/950119/7 "2021-09-05T17:37:46Z")
My dad had a degree as a civil engineer, and had the traditional iron ring. He lost it at one point, and was quite disgusted when the replacement they sent him was stainless steel. ---
**Author:** ![Crafter\_Man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crafter_man/32/458_2.png) [@Crafter\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crafter_Man)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2021, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/engineer-s-ring/950119/8 "2021-09-05T17:48:46Z")
I’m in the U.S. Every now and then someone here at work host an “Order of the Engineer” ceremony. I’m an EE, but have never attended. Walking around with that ring on my finger would seem ostentatious to me. Not much different than hanging a bunch of diplomas and awards in my office; I don’t do that, either. To each their own, of course.