This article is about gold medals as awards or prizes. There is also an article on Gold Medal, an album by The Donnas. Gold Medal is an Album by American band The Donnas, released in 2004 (see 2004 in music)

A Congressional Gold Medal award by the United States Congress

A gold medal generally represents the highest metal awarded for achievement in a non-military field, with no restriction on eligibility. Not to be confused with the Medal of Honor, sometimes called the "Congressional Medal of Honor" which is the highest military decoration of the United States Gold (ˈɡoʊld is a Chemical element with the symbol Au (from its Latin name aurum) and Atomic number 79 A medal is usually a Coin -like sculpted object of metal or other material that has been engraved with an Insignia, Portrait or other artistic rendering The concept comes from the military, initially with a simple recognition of military rank, and later decorations for admission to military orders dating back to medieval times.

Since the eighteenth century, gold medals have been awarded in the arts (for example by the Royal Danish Academy), usually as a symbol of an award to give an outstanding student some financial freedom. Others offer only the prestige of the award. Many organizations now award gold medals either annually or extraordinarily, including UNESCO and various academic societies. United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization ( UNESCO) is a specialized agency of the United Nations established on November 16

Most gold medals (including the Olympic medals) are gold-plated. Notable exceptions, made of solid gold, are the Lorentz Medal, the United States Congressional Gold Medal (which is shown to the right), and the Nobel Prize medal. Lorentz Medal is an award given every four years by the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences. Not to be confused with the Medal of Honor, sometimes called the "Congressional Medal of Honor" which is the highest military decoration of the United States The Nobel Prize (Nobelpriset (Nobelprisen is a Swedish prize established in the 1895 will of Swedish chemist Alfred Nobel; it was first awarded in Peace, Literature

Olympic Games

Reverse of the 2002 Olympic Gold Medal for hockey from Salt Lake City

The term refers to a winner's prize at the modern Olympic Games because medals were not awarded at the ancient games. The Olympic Games is an international Multi-sport event established for both summer and winter games The Ancient Olympic Games, originally referred to as simply the Olympic Games (Ολυμπιακοί Αγώνες Olympiakoi Agones) were a series of Athletic In 1896, winners received a silver medal; the second place received a bronze medal, the third none at all. The 1896 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the I Olympiad, were an International A Silver medal is a Medal awarded to the second place finisher of contests (typically athletics competitions such as the Olympic Games, For the New York City civilian award go to Bronze Medallion - New York City Award A Bronze medal is a Medal awarded In 1900, most winners received cups or trophies instead of medals. The 1900 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the II Olympiad, were an International Multi-sport event which was celebrated in 1900 in

The custom of the sequence of gold-silver-bronze for the first three places dates from the 1904 games and has been adopted by many other sporting events. Gold (ˈɡoʊld is a Chemical element with the symbol Au (from its Latin name aurum) and Atomic number 79 Silver (ˈsɪlvɚ is a Chemical element with the symbol " Ag " (argentum from the Ancient Greek: ἀργήντος - argēntos gen Bronze is any of a broad range of Copper alloys, usually with Tin as the main additive but sometimes with other elements such as Phosphorus The 1904 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the III Olympiad, were an International Multi-sport event which was celebrated in St Minting of the medals is the responsibility of the host city. A mint is an industrial facility which manufactures Coins for Currency. From 1928-1968 the design always was the same: the obverse showed a generic design by Florentine artist Giuseppe Cassioli with text giving the host city; the reverse showed another generic design of an Olympic champion. The 1928 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the IX Olympiad, was an International Multi-sport event which was celebrated in 1928 The 1968 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XIX Olympiad, were an International Multi-sport event held in Mexico City Florence ( Italian: Firenze Florentia and Fiorenza) is the Capital City of the Italian region of Tuscany

From 1972-2000, Cassioli's design (or a slight reworking) remained on the obverse with a custom design by the host city on the reverse. The 1972 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XX Olympiad, were an International Multi-sport event held in Munich, in what was "I am proud and happy to proclaim that you have presented to the world the best Olympic Games ever Noting that Cassioli's design showed a Roman amphitheater for what originally, were Greek games, a new obverse design was commissioned for the Athens 2004 Games. The 2004 Summer Olympic Games, officially known as the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad, was an International Multi-sport event which was celebrated Winter Olympics medals have been of more varied design. The Winter Olympic Games are a winter Multi-sport event held every four years The silver and bronze medals have always borne the same designs.

Other gold metal awards

The award of the gold medal (often coupled with a silver and a bronze medal) has been adopted in many competitive fields, from athetics to music and writing. Typically bronze medals are awarded only to third place, but in some contests, such as International barbershop music contests, bronze medals are awarded for third, fourth, and fifth place. Barbershop Vocal harmony, as codified during the barbershop revival era (1940s-present is a style of A cappella, or unaccompanied Vocal music characterized