In all sorts of fields of endeavour, from film to television and theatre to sport, it is recognition from peers, experts and fans that participants truly aspire to. That recognition is the basis, therefore, for the many award ceremonies and similar occasions which take place to honour those who excel in their respective fields.
Given the importance of what those various awards represent, therefore, it is only right that the physical awards themselves should look the part. That’s why so many awards and trophies have been painstakingly designed to boast truly iconic appearances, and the following four are some of the very best examples.
The Grammy Awards
Honours awarded by The Recording Academy to recognise and celebrate outstanding achievement in the world of music, the Grammy Awards are the first to make our list of iconic trophies. Originally named the ‘Gramophone Awards’,the honours themselves take that most beautiful of traditional music players as their inspiration.
A wonderfully authentic representation of a gramophone stands proudly upon a simple base, to make up the nine inch tall and five pound, four ounce trophy that is instantly recognisable. The statuette is then finished with real gold plate to give it an eye-catching and extra special look befitting the achievements which the awards celebrate.
The BAFTA Awards
Another award recognising excellence in the arts, the BAFTAs are awards presented by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts to those who excel on both the big and the small screen. It is, therefore, an image that would be instantly recognisable to any thespian that the awards use for their trophies.
That image is the traditional tragicomic mask, which for the BAFTA statuette stands on a narrow stem atop a solid base. Expertly cast in bronze alloy, the 11 inch tall mask award which was first designed in 1995, is steel-blasted for a superb shiny finish and can actually rotate on its axis to be viewed from any angle.
The Golden Globe Awards
Once the Hollywood Foreign Press Association had decided upon the name ‘Golden Globes’ for their awards, there was only one real option for the shape of the award statuettes. In spite of that, however, the award design that was eventually produced still succeeded in being truly beautiful and becoming unquestionably iconic.
Standing on a magnificent marble base, the golden globe of the award is made from 24-karat gold plated zinc and is depicted wrapped in a film reel bearing the initials ‘HFPA’. Weighing an impressive 5.5 pounds, the entire award measures 10.75 inches in height and entirely befits the world famous actors and celebrities to have received it down the years.
The Academy Awards
Widely known as the Oscars, the statuettes presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences each year are arguably the most iconic – as well as the most sought after – awards in the whole world.
Standing at a height of 13.5 inches and weighing 8.5 pounds, each of the 24 awards given out annually boast the same unmistakeable art deco design. That design depicts a knight standing at attention with a crusader’s sword atop a reel of film with five spokes, and is created using sparkling gold plated Britannium.