Rebranded Kennedy Center debuts new medals at this year’s Honors

The Kennedy Center Honors medal is receiving its most significant redesign since the award was created nearly five decades ago, replacing the familiar long-standing rainbow ribbon with a solid deep blue one and adding a weighty gold medal. The updated medal will debut at this year’s ceremony.

The redesign originated in discussions between the White House, Kennedy Center leadership and an outside design team at Tiffany & Co. tasked with updating the visual identity of the Honors. The new version features a new circular medallion at the center and a simpler ribbon loop that departs from the soft, multicolored loop historically associated with the ceremony. Similar to a traditional sports medal, the new design features an etching of the Kennedy Center with just a hint of the colors of the rainbow at the top and bottom of the building and the recipient’s name and the date of the ceremony on the back.

(Taylor Hill / FilmMagic / Getting Images) Filmmaker George Lucas at the 2024 Kennedy Center Honors, wearing the colorful medal synonymous with the awards for 47 years.

The rainbow design, introduced in 1978, had become one of the most recognizable symbols of the Honors and made by a family in D.C. Its retirement prompted extensive online discussion after early images of the new medal circulated, with many past attendees and arts organizations noting the visual break from tradition.

Kennedy Center officials said the change reflects a “comprehensive branding update” aimed at unifying the look of the stage production, broadcast elements and printed materials and eliminating any “woke” elements. They emphasized that the medal redesign does not alter selection criteria or the mission of the Honors.

This year’s ceremony will incorporate new staging, lighting, and presentation segments to match the revised aesthetic. Honorees will be the first to receive the updated ribbon and medallion, which production staff say will appear prominently in the televised broadcast, recorded this weekend and airing later this month on CBS. Chairman of the Kennedy Center President Trump boldly predicted that this year’s ceremony will be “the highest-rated show that they’ve ever done.”

2025 Kennedy Center Honorees: KISS, Michael Crawford, Gloria Gaynor, George Strait and Sylvester Stallone.

This ceremony comes just days after Trump hosted the FIFA World Cup Draw where they presented him with the newly created “FIFA Peace Prize,” a trophy like structure of golden hands holding up a globe that now sits at the front corner of the desk in the Oval Office and featured in many pictures from the Kennedy Center Honors medal ceremony this weekend.