# Officers with Ring on Pinky Finger



## darkskye (6 Mar 2012)

Hiya,

This might be a weird question, but I seem to see a lot of officers with a plain sliver ring on their pinky finger, is there something to it or am I crazy?


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## jeffb (6 Mar 2012)

That's probably an engineers ring.


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## Cui (6 Mar 2012)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iron_Ring

All graduates of engineering programs in Canada usually get that ring at a ceremony, it serves as a reminder for professional ethics.


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## darkskye (6 Mar 2012)

Thanks for the replies.


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## tree hugger (6 Mar 2012)

Foresters get a silver ring for their pinky too, similar to the engineers iron ring (but better   )
They are provided to graduates by the Canadian Institute of Forestry.


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## Danjanou (6 Mar 2012)

I always thought the only people who wore pinky rings were these guys.  8)


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## gcclarke (6 Mar 2012)

tree hugger said:
			
		

> Foresters get a silver ring for their pinky too, similar to the engineers iron ring (but better   )
> They are provided to graduates by the Canadian Institute of Forestry.



Silver? Shouldn't that be wood?


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## Strike (6 Mar 2012)

tree hugger said:
			
		

> Foresters get a silver ring for their pinky too, similar to the engineers iron ring (but better   )
> They are provided to graduates by the Canadian Institute of Forestry.



Imitation is the best form of flattery.  Everyone wants to look like an engineer.   ;D


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## ballz (6 Mar 2012)

Strike said:
			
		

> Imitation is the best form of flattery.  Everyone wants to look like an engineer.   ;D



 :nod:


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## Strike (6 Mar 2012)

Good enough to know the difference between then and than!

 :nana:


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## Fishbone Jones (6 Mar 2012)

Strike said:
			
		

> Imitation is the best form of flattery.  Everyone wants to look like an engineer.   ;D



Doesn't look that difficult.


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## Rheostatic (7 Mar 2012)

rezz said:
			
		

> Hiya,
> 
> This might be a weird question, but I seem to see a lot of officers with a plain sliver ring on their pinky finger, is there something to it or am I crazy?


http://ironring.ca/


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## Silverfire (7 Mar 2012)

Rookie Green said:
			
		

> Yup- I know the graduating students at my university are getting their's next week, and I should have mine about a year from now. It's an interesting story- The iron is intended to signify the loss of lives due to the improper engineering of the Quebec Bridge, and it's worn on the pinky so that every time an engineer works on any sort of plans, it drags across the paper, reminding them of their responsibilities and commitment to ethics.



If that story/reason is actually true, that's actually pretty good.  I enjoyed learning that.


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## ballz (7 Mar 2012)

Strike said:
			
		

> Good enough to know the difference between then and than!
> 
> :nana:



ullhair:

Haha I figured you'd pick up on that, a friend of mine made it but your post reminded me of it. The best part about the error is that he's an arts student, for some reason their mistakes always seem funnier to me. :facepalm:


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## Haletown (7 Mar 2012)

and some married men get a ring too . . .  right through the nose.  ;D


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## tree hugger (7 Mar 2012)

For foresters:

http://www.cif-ifc.org/site/silver_ring_program


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## Jed (7 Mar 2012)

My pinky ring cost $1.00 when I received it in 1976. I used to say it cost $20,000 that was the price of 4 years of higher education at that time. (tuition, room and board, all in)


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## Strike (7 Mar 2012)

tree hugger said:
			
		

> For foresters:
> 
> http://www.cif-ifc.org/site/silver_ring_program



Sorry TH, but engineer rings have a much better story to them.   :nod:


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## tree hugger (7 Mar 2012)

Iron rings are so common that they might as well represent the common cold!   

All the cool kids have the Forester one!


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## Journeyman (7 Mar 2012)

_Actually_, we real cool kids got ours from Mordor.   




It didn't burn near as much as the wedding band.....


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## Animatronic Fireman (7 Mar 2012)

I would just like to point out to everyone that the Iron Ring has nothing to do with the Quebec Bridge Disaster.  Please check out the already provided link ironring.ca for the actual truth. Another interesting link that highlights obligation which is much more important but less well known then the ring itself.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Ritual_of_the_Calling_of_an_Engineer

Thanks
AF, Engineer-in-Training


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## Oldgateboatdriver (7 Mar 2012)

Not quite completely correct:

The iron rings issued to members of the Order of Engineers of Quebec are made with the iron recovered from the Quebec bridge disaster - but the other provinces of Canada only have iron rings without any special origin.


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## Animatronic Fireman (7 Mar 2012)

Unfortunately that is an urban legend.  Every camp except one in Toronto presents rings in stainless steel.


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## Strike (7 Mar 2012)

Oldgateboatdriver said:
			
		

> Not quite completely correct:
> 
> The iron rings issued to members of the Order of Engineers of Quebec are made with the iron recovered from the Quebec bridge disaster - but the other provinces of Canada only have iron rings without any special origin.



Myth, especially since there was more than one disaster.

However it's been said that the formation of the Order of Engineers and PEng society were the result of those disasters, which is why people associate the iron ring with the events.  So I would argue that the iron ring is a reminder of the responsibilities and engineer has to do their work properly and carefully to ensure that disasters such as the Quebec bridge are less likely to happen again.  As the original camp presidents said, something of a Hippocratic oath for engineers.


Edited for spelling because, well, engineers have issues with that...although we still know the difference between then and than!


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## jeffb (7 Mar 2012)

Oldgateboatdriver said:
			
		

> Not quite completely correct:
> 
> The iron rings issued to members of the Order of Engineers of Quebec are made with the iron recovered from the Quebec bridge disaster - but the other provinces of Canada only have iron rings without any special origin.



Also not correct. The ring is not made of the iron from the bridge. See http://www.eir.ca/engineers/ironring.php?link=4



> The Myth of the Iron Ring
> 
> On August 29, 1907, as the Pont de Québec Bridge neared completion, it collapsed, killing 76 people. A Royal Commission set up to study the incident reported that this tragedy was the result of an error in judgment made by the bridge's principal engineers.
> 
> A second attempt to span the river resulted in another disaster. On September 11, 1916, the centre span of the bridge fell, killing ten more people. The bridge was finally completed in October 17, 1917. The story is that the early rings given to engineers during the Calling of an Engineer were made from the iron from the collapsed bridge. Today's iron rings are a reminder of the Québec Bridge that collapsed.


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## Animatronic Fireman (7 Mar 2012)

Trust me I am an engineer.

(Famous last words)


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## Fishbone Jones (7 Mar 2012)

The above six posts show why it takes 5 weeks and an offshore account to get an engineer to write a one page report on why a fridge door, with a magnetic strip, is able to stay closed under normal usage.


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## Strike (7 Mar 2012)

recceguy said:
			
		

> The above six posts show why it takes 5 weeks and an offshore account to get an engineer to write a one page report on why a fridge door, with a magnetic strip, is able to stay closed under normal usage.



Hey!


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## GAP (7 Mar 2012)

recceguy said:
			
		

> The above six posts show why it takes 5 weeks and an offshore account to get an engineer to write a one page report on why a fridge door, with a magnetic strip, is able to stay closed under normal usage.



Nor does it tell us if the light stays on when the door is closed........


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## PanaEng (7 Mar 2012)

recceguy said:
			
		

> The above six posts show why it takes 5 weeks and an offshore account to get an engineer to write a one page report on why a fridge door, with a magnetic strip, is able to stay closed under normal usage.


Look, we have to make it seem like it is a complex thing - job security.



			
				GAP said:
			
		

> Nor does it tell us if the light stays on when the door is closed........


After it is complete I can tell with 100% confidence that... 
it depends!
(unless it is my design)

chimo!

Frank


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## Fishbone Jones (7 Mar 2012)

PanaEng said:
			
		

> Look, we have to make it seem like it is a complex thing - job security.
> After it is complete I can tell with 100% confidence that...
> it depends!
> (unless it is my design)
> ...



There, that's the kind of engineer I'm used to dealing with ;D


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## AC 011 (7 Mar 2012)

rezz said:
			
		

> Hiya,
> 
> This might be a weird question, but I seem to see a lot of officers with a plain sliver ring on their pinky finger, is there something to it or am I crazy?



It's not only officers.   

We're everywhere.   ;D


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## Zoomie (7 Mar 2012)

FWIW - some American engineer graduates wear pinky rings too.  It's not just a Canadian thing, as the wiki article would present.


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## cupper (7 Mar 2012)

Zoomie said:
			
		

> FWIW - some American engineer graduates wear pinky rings too.  It's not just a Canadian thing, as the wiki article would present.



Some American schools developed their own ceremony based on the Canadian ceremony.

Not sure it they have permission to do so, since the Ritual of the Calling of an Engineer is copyright protected in both Canada and the US.


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## Rheostatic (8 Mar 2012)

The rings are manufactured locally (in at least one case, right in engineering labs by university techs). That may have something to do with the choices available at certain camps.


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