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I am looking for an easily identifiable awarding scheme, but without using metals, specifically "Gold, Silver, Bronze".

Does such a thing exist?

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    You can use colors -- traditionally a "blue ribbon" is the top prize, red ribbon second, then, I think, white. Or simply First, Second, Third.
    – Hot Licks
    Oct 28, 2014 at 15:23
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    This question appears to be off-topic because it is not about the English language per se.
    – Kris
    Oct 28, 2014 at 17:10
  • Win, Place, or Show (like in horse racing).
    – Mitch
    Oct 28, 2014 at 17:51
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    First, second, third. Easily identifiable to every child, and works in every language.
    – RegDwigнt
    Oct 28, 2014 at 22:28
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    As this is high on Google, it has been well-contributed to here: ux.stackexchange.com/questions/67013/…
    – EvilDr
    Dec 15, 2016 at 12:07

3 Answers 3

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OK, here is a reference to the traditional fair ribbons. In the US:

  1. Blue - first
  2. Red - second
  3. Yellow - third
  4. White - fourth

(Those silly Canadians, of course, have to use a different scheme.)

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    I've never once come across this scheme before, and I wouldn't be able to reproduce it if you asked me again in an hour. Same goes for absolutely any fellow countryman of mine, or really anyone in Europe, for that matter, and probably a couple other continents as well. Meaning to say, this scheme is less easily identifiable than the ubiquitous gold-silver-bronze, and by a huge margin.
    – RegDwigнt
    Oct 29, 2014 at 12:34
  • @RegDwigнt - Depends on your audience, of course. The concept of "blue ribbon" as being first/best is well-known to most in the US.
    – Hot Licks
    Oct 29, 2014 at 15:27
  • These were the colors of ribbons in my primary school athletics in Australia. Except white was for participation (and was only given in one particular event (like cross country or something harder than the rest)).
    – Frames Catherine White
    May 31, 2015 at 13:52
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Many thanks for the suggestions on Ribbons and First, Runner Up and Third. I have a few more which might help anyone else trying to find alternatives to gold, silver and bronze:

  • Diamonds, Rubies and Sapphires
  • Stars (1, 2 and 3 stars)
  • Moon Phases (New Moon to Full Moon)
  • Traffic lights (Red, Amber and Green)
  • Military ranks (Private, Sargent and General)
  • Playing Cards (Ace, King, Queen and Jack)
  • Chess (King, Queen, Rook, Bishop, Knight)
  • School style grading (A, B, C, D, E and F grades)
  • Smiley faces (happy, indifferent and sad)
  • Human achievements (fire, printing and the Internet)
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  • +1 for school grades, but it is only appropriate for a marking system within an academic environment. The other suggestions I find rather whimsical, but I can see children liking them.
    – Mari-Lou A
    Oct 29, 2014 at 9:35
  • Some of these are definitely whimsical, I agree, however I think using rare jewels or using a star rating are both fairly "serious" alternatives to Gold, Silver and Bronze.
    – Jimmery
    Oct 29, 2014 at 12:25
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    The trouble is that not all of these are readily ranked the way gold/silver/bronze are. Rubies are more valuable than diamonds; I don't know how they compare to sapphires. Is red the best traffic signal color, or is green (and is it one way in East Asia and another way in Western Europe)? Is one star best, indicating first place, or is three stars the best, since it has the most stars? And third place gets a sad face? Wouldn't the third place winner be happier than the fourth?
    – choster
    Oct 29, 2014 at 14:04
  • Not if the race only had three contestants :) I didn't realize Rubies were more valuable than Diamonds, I must admit I just made an assumption here. In the case of 1 star is best, then I would make that star bigger and more prominent than the others, but other than this more is better. You are right though, some of these alternatives only make more sense when more is known about the subject matter, but at least they are all usable in more than one specific context.
    – Jimmery
    Oct 29, 2014 at 14:11
  • When I used to teach small children, I was told to award gold stars and silver stars, but there was never any direct competition involved. It was more like a special treat, it had to be awarded for exceptional work, or even acts of kindness (the idea was to reinforce positive behaviour). I didn't find myself agreeing with this scheme, I preferred team effort, dividing the class into three or four groups and then awarding points on a chart at the end of each lesson.
    – Mari-Lou A
    Oct 29, 2014 at 17:04
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  1. winner
  2. runner-up (singular) runners-up (plural)
  3. third place

As in

  1. Now it's time to announce the winner of our competition, in third place we have ____; in second place ________ but the winner is... _______!
    or

  2. Now it's time to announce the winner of our competition. The runners-up are ...... (more than one competitor) And now for the moment you've all been waiting for, the winner is ... _______!

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