Danish Danish may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the country of Denmark People * A national or citizen of Denmark, also called a "Dane," see Demographics of Denmark * Culture of Denmark * Danish people or Danes, people with a Danish a ...

Norwegian Norwegian, Norwayan, or Norsk may refer to: *Something of, from, or related to Norway, a country in northwestern Europe * Norwegians, both a nation and an ethnic group native to Norway * Demographics of Norway *The Norwegian language, including ...

, and

Swedish Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically: * Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland ** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...

academia An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of secondary education, secondary or tertiary education, tertiary higher education, higher learning (and generally also research or honorary membershi ...

, a doctoral ring may be bestowed upon the conferral of a

doctorate A doctorate (from Latin ''docere'', "to teach"), doctor's degree (from Latin ''doctor'', "teacher"), or doctoral degree is an academic degree awarded by universities and some other educational institutions, derived from the ancient formalism ''l ...

Sweden

Together with the

doctoral hat A doctoral hat ( fi, tohtorinhattu, sv, doktorshatt) is a major part of Nordic academic dress of Ph.D. recipients in Finland and Sweden and differs from the square academic cap found in other parts of the world. It is a silken top hat with a ...

laurel wreath A laurel wreath is a round wreath made of connected branches and leaves of the bay laurel (), an aromatic broadleaf evergreen, or later from spineless butcher's broom (''Ruscus hypoglossum'') or cherry laurel (''Prunus laurocerasus''). It is a sy ...

, it forms part of the

academic regalia Academic dress is a traditional form of clothing for academic settings, mainly tertiary (and sometimes secondary) education, worn mainly by those who have obtained a university degree (or similar), or hold a status that entitles them to assum ...

in Sweden. Swedish doctoral rings are made of

gold Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au (from la, aurum) and atomic number 79. This makes it one of the higher atomic number elements that occur naturally. It is a bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile met ...

, either standard or

white gold Pure gold is slightly reddish yellow in color, but colored gold in various other colors can be produced by alloying gold with other elements. Colored golds can be classified in three groups: * Alloys with silver and copper in various proportions ...

, and in a design specific to the conferring faculty. While the doctoral hat or laurel wreath has no use outside academic events, the ring is intended to be worn in daily life and is typically worn on the

ring finger The ring finger, third finger, fourth finger, leech finger, or annulary is the fourth digit of the human hand, located between the middle finger and the little finger. Sometimes the term ring finger only refers to the fourth digit of a left-han ...

of the left hand. Swedish Doctoral Ring

Denmark

The Danish doctoral ring was introduced in 1824. The current design was created by medallist

Harald Conradsen Harald Conradsen (17 November 1817 10 March 1905) was a Danish sculptor and medallist. He was chief medallist at the Royal Mint from 1873 to 1901. Other works by Conradsen include the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts' Eckersberg Medal and the U ...

in 1866 and features a gold plate with a portrait of

Pallas Athena Athena or Athene, often given the epithet Pallas, is an ancient Greek goddess associated with wisdom, warfare, and handicraft who was later syncretized with the Roman goddess Minerva. Athena was regarded as the patron and protectress of v ...

surrounded by a

. The ring is not awarded as such, but the doctoral title enables the recipient to purchase the figured plate from the

University of Copenhagen The University of Copenhagen ( da, Københavns Universitet, KU) is a prestigious public university, public research university in Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark. Founded in 1479, the University of Copenhagen is the second-oldest university in ...

which is the facilitator of this service. If the doctor wishes it attached to an actual ring, the doctor must purchase this service from a jeweller at their own expense. The ring is normally worn on the index finger of the right hand.

References

Article with illustrations from 1907

Nordisk familjebok ''Nordisk familjebok'' (, "Nordic Family Book") is a Swedish encyclopedia that was published in print from between 1876 and 1993, and that is now fully available in digital form via Project Runeberg at Linköping University. Despite their consi ...

(in Swedish) {{DEFAULTSORT:Doctoral Ring Academic dress Rings (jewellery) Metal rings