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Agold medal is amedal awarded for highest achievement in a non-military field. Its name derives from the use of at least a fraction ofgold in form ofplating oralloying in its manufacture.
Since the eighteenth century, gold medals have been awarded in the arts, for example, by theRoyal Danish Academy of Fine Arts, usually as a symbol of an award to give an outstanding student some financial freedom. Others offer only theprestige of the award. Many organizations now award gold medals either annually or extraordinarily, including various academic societies.
While some gold medals are solid gold, others aregold-plated orsilver-gilt, like those of theOlympic Games, theLorentz Medal, the United StatesCongressional Gold Medal and theNobel Prize medal. Nobel Prize medals consist of 18 karatgreen gold plated with 24 karat gold. Before 1980, they were struck in 23 karat gold.
Before the establishment of standardmilitary awards, e.g., theMedal of Honor, it was common practice to have a medal specially created to provide national recognition for a significant military or naval victory or accomplishment. In the United States,Congress would enact a resolution asking thePresident to reward those responsible. Thecommanding officer would receive a gold medal and hisofficers would getsilver medals.[1]
Medals have historically been given as prizes in various types of competitive activities, especially athletics.
Traditionally, medals are made of the following metals:
Occasionally,Platinum medals can be awarded.
These metals designate the first threeAges of Man inGreek mythology: theGolden Age, when men lived among the gods, theSilver Age, where youth lasted a hundred years, and theBronze Age, the era of heroes.
The custom of awarding the sequence of gold,silver, andbronze medals for the first three highest achievers dates from at least the 19th century, with the National Association of Amateur Athletes in the United States awarding such medals as early as 1884.[2]
This standard was adopted for Olympic competition at the1904 Summer Olympics inSt. Louis. At the1896 event, silver was awarded to winners and bronze to runners-up, while in1900 other prizes were given, not medals.
At the modernOlympic Games, winners of a sporting discipline receive a gold medal in recognition of their achievement.
At theAncient Olympic Games, only one winner per event received an award, which was akotinos, an olive wreath made of wild olive leaves from a sacred tree near the temple of Zeus at Olympia.Aristophanes inPlutus makes a remark why victorious athletes are crowned with wreaths made of wild olive instead of gold.[3]Herodotus describes a story that explains why there were only a few Greek men at theBattle of Thermopylae since "all other men were participating in the Olympic Games" and that the prize for the winner was "an olive-wreath". WhenTigranes, an Armenian general, learned this, he uttered to his leader: "Good heavens! What kind of men are these against whom you have brought us to fight? Men who do not compete for possessions, but for honour".[4]
At the1896 Summer Olympics, winners received asilver medal and the second-place finisher received abronze medal. In1900, most winners received cups or trophies instead of medals. The next three Olympics (1904,1908,1912) awarded the winners solid gold medals, but the medals themselves were smaller. The use of gold rapidly declined with the onset of theFirst World War and also with the onset of theSecond World War.[5] The last series of Olympic medals to be made of solid gold were awarded at the 1912 Summer Olympics inStockholm,Sweden.
Olympic gold medals are required to be made from at least92.5% silver, and must contain a minimum of 6 grams of gold.[6] All Olympic medals must be at least 70mm in diameter and 3mm thick.[7]Minting the medals is the responsibility of the Olympic host. From1928 through1968 the design was always the same: the obverse showed a generic design byFlorentine artistGiuseppe Cassioli of Greek goddessNike with Rome'sColosseum in the background and text naming the host city; the reverse showed another generic design of Nike saluting an Olympic champion.
From the1972 Summer Olympics through2000, Cassioli's design (or a slight modification) remained on the obverse with a custom design by the host city on the reverse. Noting that Cassioli's design showed a Roman amphitheater for what originally were Greek games, a new obverse design was commissioned for the2004 Summer Olympics inAthens. For the2008 Beijing Olympics medals had a diameter of 70mm and were 6mm thick, with the front displaying a winged figure of victory and the back showed a Beijing Olympics symbol surrounded by an inset jade circle.
Winter Olympics medals have been of more varied design. The silver and bronze medals have always borne the same designs.
The award of a gold medal, often coupled with the award of silver and bronze medals to the next place finishers, has been adopted in other sports competitions (such as theMediterranean Games), and in other competitive fields, such as music and writing, as well as some competitive games. Typically bronze medals are awarded only to third place, but in some contests there is some variety, such as Internationalbarbershop music contests where bronze medals are awarded for third, fourth, and fifth place.[citation needed]
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