# Wedding Ring Locaation **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 4, 2009, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wedding-ring-locaation/512574 "2009-10-04T19:03:33Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![ewodle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e68b1a/32.png) [@ewodle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ewodle)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2009, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wedding-ring-locaation/512574/1 "2009-10-04T19:03:33Z")
I was asked about a photo in which a wedding ring was worn on the right hand. My impression is that some widows/widowers transfer their ring to the right hand, but of course this photo may have been printed “flipped” L/R. Is there some ethnic or religious reason for wearing the wedding ring on the right hand? ewodle ---
**Author:** ![Sebastienne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a698b9/32.png) [@Sebastienne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sebastienne)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2009, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wedding-ring-locaation/512574/2 "2009-10-04T19:20:21Z")
The right hand is traditional amongst the Eastern Orthodox, and possibly others. Wikipedia has some more info on this: [Wedding ring - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wedding_ring) ---
**Author:** ![KarlGrenze](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/dbc845/32.png) [@KarlGrenze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KarlGrenze)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2009, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wedding-ring-locaation/512574/3 "2009-10-04T20:14:21Z")
Brazilians tend to wear their engagement rings (females AND males), which can look like wedding rings, in their right hand. ---
**Author:** ![Scarlett67](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scarlett67/32/7387_2.png) [@Scarlett67](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scarlett67)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2009, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wedding-ring-locaation/512574/4 "2009-10-04T20:18:07Z")
Mr. S has recently started wearing his wedding ring on his right ring finger because he has some sort of bone spur on his left middle finger; the ring rubs against it and hurts if he wears it on the left. So there are also just physical reasons for wearing the ring on a certain hand. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2009, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wedding-ring-locaation/512574/5 "2009-10-04T21:00:10Z")
Some same-sex couples wear their wedding rings on the right hand . . . and some, on the index finger. ---
**Author:** ![Wallenstein](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/b5a626/32.png) [@Wallenstein](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wallenstein)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2009, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wedding-ring-locaation/512574/6 "2009-10-04T21:23:44Z")
I know a few left-handed people who wear their ring on the right hand. Especially sporty types, e.g. tennis / squash etc. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2009, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wedding-ring-locaation/512574/7 "2009-10-04T21:26:08Z")
Some medical professionals don’t - or can’t - wear wedding rings at all, I’ve read, due to concerns about thorough washing and sterility. ---
**Author:** ![madmonk28](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madmonk28/32/20811_2.png) [@madmonk28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madmonk28)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2009, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wedding-ring-locaation/512574/8 "2009-10-04T22:41:58Z")
Some European countries wear the ring on the right hand, I know most of the former Soviet Union does and I believe the Dutch do, as well. My wife is a lefty and wears hers on the right hand and I wear mine on the right because it’s too big for my left, also it bugs my sister in law that it is on the “wrong” hand, so all the more reason not to get it re-sized. ---
**Author:** ![kdeus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b487fb/32.png) [@kdeus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kdeus)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2009, 1:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wedding-ring-locaation/512574/9 "2009-10-05T01:28:46Z")
**Sebastienne** is correct. I was married in an old-calendar Eastern Orthodox (Greek) ceremony, and the Priest put our rings on our right hands. I wear mine on my left hand, because I live in the U.S. and I don’t want the hotties to think I’m available. If I were going to Greece to hold the lightmeter at a nympho-bikini model photo shoot, I would wear it on my right hand. ---
**Author:** ![dragonlady](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/5f8ce5/32.png) [@dragonlady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dragonlady)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2009, 1:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wedding-ring-locaation/512574/10 "2009-10-06T01:18:49Z")
When I was in Singapore, I noticed my friends coworker wore his wedding band on his right hand. He was ethnically Chinese, if that makes a difference… ---
**Author:** ![Aji\_de\_Gallina](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aji_de_gallina/32/260_2.png) [@Aji\_de\_Gallina](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aji_de_Gallina)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2009, 3:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wedding-ring-locaation/512574/11 "2009-10-06T03:08:35Z")
Peruvian here, right hand and I think it’s the tradition in Spanish speaking countries ---
**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2009, 12:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wedding-ring-locaation/512574/12 "2009-10-08T00:37:12Z")
One other point is that all, AFAIK, professional violin and other string players wear wedding rings–if they wear them–on the right hand. I have wondered whether this is because the weight would screw up their fingering or if they are afraid the ring might snag a string. Three days ago, I noticed that the first violin of the Tokyo String Quartet was wearing two rings on his right hand, one on the ring finger and one on the pinky. ---
**Author:** ![rocking\_chair](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rocking_chair/32/2918_2.png) [@rocking\_chair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rocking_chair)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2009, 12:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wedding-ring-locaation/512574/13 "2009-10-08T00:50:48Z")
rings show off better on the bow hand. they catch lights really nicely. i play violin (not on stage) and wear rings on both hands and don’t notice anything. although if i was to wear a ring that is something other than a simple bandish design something raised and sparkly, i would go with right hand. ---
**Author:** ![Scarlett67](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scarlett67/32/7387_2.png) [@Scarlett67](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scarlett67)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2009, 3:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wedding-ring-locaation/512574/14 "2009-10-08T03:59:20Z")
> [@Hari\_Seldon](#): > > One other point is that all, AFAIK, professional violin and other string players wear wedding rings–if they wear them–on the right hand. I know an awesome cellist who occasionally uses his wedding band to do percussion on the neck of the cello as he plays. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2009, 4:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wedding-ring-locaation/512574/15 "2009-10-08T04:09:18Z")
I believe Germans wear their wedding rings on the right hand. ---
**Author:** ![Snickers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/5daacb/32.png) [@Snickers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snickers)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2009, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wedding-ring-locaation/512574/16 "2009-10-08T19:39:24Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > Some medical professionals don’t - or can’t - wear wedding rings at all, I’ve read, due to concerns about thorough washing and sterility. My Dad’s one of these. He’s a family practitioner, but still never wore a wedding band. Not because he had to wash his hands that often - he does do surgery, but it’s not as frequent a thing as it would be were he a surgeon - but because he was afraid of leaving it on the stand after washing his hands for surgery, forgetting about it, and so losing it. ---
**Author:** ![Skammer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skammer/32/143_2.png) [@Skammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skammer)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2009, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wedding-ring-locaation/512574/17 "2009-10-08T20:27:51Z")
My father-in-law wears his on his right hand. But that’s because he lost his left ring finger at the middle knuckle many years ago (he was climbing over a chain-link fence and his ring got caught). ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tim_r.mortiss/32/142_2.png) [@Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_R.Mortiss)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2009, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wedding-ring-locaation/512574/18 "2009-10-08T20:59:16Z")
In Spain, they wear their wedding rings on the right hand. Quite a few countries do this, I seem to recall. ---
**Author:** ![jabiru](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/bbce88/32.png) [@jabiru](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jabiru)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2009, 1:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wedding-ring-locaation/512574/19 "2009-10-09T01:10:52Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > Some medical professionals don’t - or can’t - wear wedding rings at all, I’ve read, due to concerns about thorough washing and sterility. I work in oncology so I don’t wear any jewellery to work (apart from sleepers in my ears). Some of my colleagues wear their rings on a chain around the neck but I’d be worried I’d lose them. I rather like the idea of transferring my rings (when I get the chance to wear them) onto my right hand should I ever become a widow. I guess that means I’d have to wear my dress rings on my left hand, though, and that would sort of defeat the purpose.