Honorary Award certificate templates and badges
3 free designs. A set is one design as a badge, a landscape or a portrait certificate, or all three.
Free for up to 20 recipients a year
An honorary certificate template is for a distinction that is given rather than earned in an exam. Associations confer honorary and life membership on long-standing volunteers, schools honour governors, benefactors and retiring staff, and clubs and societies thank the people who held them together for years.
Because there was no course to pass, the certificate has to explain itself. A good certificate of honor names the honour (honorary member, honorary fellow, honoris causa), says in a sentence or two why it was conferred, gives the date it was voted or presented and carries the signatures of the president, chair or head.
The designs here come as certificates in A4 and US Letter and as digital badges, so you can present a framed copy at the ceremony and send a verifiable version the recipient can keep and share.
Wording
What to write on a honorary award certificate
Use these lines as they are, or as a start for your own. Every template comes with wording you can change in the studio.
Wording for an honorary member certificate
- “By resolution of the board, is hereby elected an Honorary Member of this association, with all the privileges of membership for life.”
- “Conferred in grateful recognition of many years of service to our members and our community.”
- “In honour of a lasting contribution to the life and work of this society.”
Wording for an honorary award in school
- “In honor of your generous service to our students, our staff and our school.”
- “Presented with the thanks of the whole school community for years of help given freely.”
- “For kindness, leadership and an example that others follow.”
Short lines for the badge or the citation
- “Honoris causa: for the sake of honour.”
- “One of us, with our thanks, for life.”
Why send it with Hyperstack
More than a PDF
Customize the template free. When it is ready, send it to everyone at once.
One design, every name
Upload a spreadsheet and Hyperstack makes a certificate of honor for each person on it, in one go.
Sent by email
Each recipient gets their own email and link. You see who opened it, downloaded it and shared it.
Anyone can verify it
The QR code opens a page that proves the certificate is real. Recipients add it to LinkedIn in one click.
FAQ
Questions, answered
A regular award is usually won against criteria, such as a score, a sales target or a competition result. An honorary award is conferred by a decision of the organisation, often a board or committee vote, to honour a person's service, generosity or character. The recipient did not apply for it and was not assessed.
It is Latin for "for the sake of honour". Universities use it for honorary degrees, and associations and societies use it for any distinction given to honour a person rather than to certify a qualification.
Usually the president or chair, often with the secretary who recorded the resolution. For a school, the head and the chair of governors are common. Use the signers who made or announced the decision.
Give the date the honour was conferred. Honorary membership is normally for life, so most certificates show no end date; if your rules make it renewable, add the valid-until date.
Yes. Schools give a certificate of honor to a student for service to the school, outstanding character or a contribution beyond lessons, such as founding a club or leading a charity drive. Say what the student did in the citation so the honour is specific.
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