When a celebrated individual suddenly finds themselves 10 people stripped of an accolade, the fallout can be as fascinating as the original achievement. From military commanders who fell from grace to Nobel laureates whose pasts were re‑examined, history is peppered with cases where honors were rescinded, titles removed, and reputations rewritten. Below, we count down ten of the most eyebrow‑raising revocations, each with its own twist of scandal, politics, or plain oddity.

10 The General Who Wanted To Be Flogged By Little Boys

General Eyre Coote began his career with a bang, enlisting in the British royal forces at just fourteen and seeing action on the American front during the Revolutionary War. After his return to England, he toured the globe—serving in Egypt, where his exploits earned him the distinguished Knight of the Bath, and later climbing to the rank of general while holding several high‑profile political posts.

Yet his stint in the West Indies left a lingering “effect on his brain,” as contemporaries put it. Over time, Coote’s conduct grew increasingly erratic, prompting his superiors to label him unfit for command. Charged with indecent conduct, the case was dismissed, but the Duke of York, aghast at the details, ordered a deeper probe.

Accounts vary, but by 1815 Coote had entered the Mathematical School at Christ’s Hospital and began an odd conversation about flogging with the boys. He inquired whether any of them had ever been flogged, whether they would dare flog him, and even offered cash for the act. When a nurse discovered the discussion, authorities initially dropped the matter after deeming him mentally unsound at the time and after he made a £1,000 donation to the school at their request. The later Duke‑of‑York investigation, however, ruled that Coote was merely eccentric, not insane, and that his behavior was indefensible. The clash of flogging fantasies, boyish innocence, and knighthood proved untenable; he was dismissed from the army in 1816 and his knighthood was formally stripped.

9 Richard Vogt’s Censored Speech

Richard Vogt, a well‑known herpetologist specializing in turtles, earned the Distinguished Herpetologist Award from the Herpetologists’ League during the 2018 joint meeting of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists. The accolade, however, vanished the very next day.

The controversy didn’t stem from Vogt’s spoken words but from the slides accompanying his acceptance address. The presentation displayed his female field assistants in bikinis—a commonplace sight for researchers working in aquatic habitats, yet the images were deemed “atypical” and overly revealing. The audiovisual team felt compelled to black out portions of the pictures, covering the students with blue boxes.

Unaware of the censorship, Vogt delivered his speech while many audience members abruptly rose and exited. Observers questioned the appropriateness of showcasing such images at a prestigious gathering. Colleagues noted that Vogt had used similar slide decks for two decades, suggesting a long‑standing, albeit controversial, practice.

8 The Nobel Prize‑Winning Nazi

Konrad Lorenz, a pioneering zoologist and animal psychologist famed for his work on imprinting, secured the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1973. During World War II, he served as a German army doctor, later becoming a professor at the University of Königsberg. After the war, he resumed his academic career and accumulated at least one honorary doctorate.

That honorary doctorate from the University of Salzburg was rescinded when it emerged that Lorenz had concealed his active involvement with the Nazi regime’s Office of Racial Policy. Documents revealed he had advocated for the extermination of certain population segments and published papers classifying various groups as inferior.

While some argue his wartime writings reflect “political naïveté,” others contend his Nazi affiliations disqualify him from any honor. Notably, the Nobel Committee’s statutes forbid revoking a prize once awarded, asserting that the accolade recognizes the recipient’s achievements irrespective of later conduct.

7 The Royal Photographer, Undone

Ernest Brooks entered the British military as a teenager, where he first encountered photography while serving Lady Vivian, the widow of a former lieutenant general. Capturing her guests, Brooks sold some images to a local newspaper, igniting his passion for the medium.

Leveraging his connections, Brooks eventually secured the role of official photographer for the British royal family. He gained further fame documenting the First World War from a British perspective. Though he preferred authentic war photography over propaganda, the government co‑opted many of his pictures for morale‑boosting purposes, enhancing his public profile in an unintended way.

The exact reason for his dismissal remains murky, but his close proximity to the monarchy and the intimate nature of his work likely contributed. In 1925, he was stripped of all honors, including his Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE), and his name was expunged from the official registry. The public removal served as a stark warning to other artists whose work displeased the crown, yet it paradoxically amplified interest in Brooks’s photography.

6 The Night Raider

Each year the Natural History Museum in London runs a wildlife photography contest. In 2017, Marcio Cabral clinched the Wildlife Photographer of the Year award in the “Animals in Their Environment” category with a striking shot of an anteater approaching a bioluminescent termite mound.

Following his triumph, the museum received an anonymous tip alleging that the featured anteater was a taxidermied specimen. A panel of five experts—including three mammalogists, an anteater specialist, and a taxidermy authority—investigated. Their independent analyses concluded that the animal in Cabral’s image was indistinguishable from the museum’s displayed specimen.

Cabral supplied raw image files taken before and after the anteater appeared, none of which captured the creature. He also presented a witness who claimed to have seen the live animal and denied any staging. Nevertheless, the museum upheld its decision, disqualifying Cabral and stripping him of the Photographer of the Year title. The judges’ anonymity meant another winner could not be named, preserving the contest’s integrity.

5 Miss Earth Lebanon Stripped Of Title After Posing With Miss Earth Israel

The Miss Earth pageant, which promotes environmental awareness, featured 89 nations in its 2018 edition, including Lebanon and Israel. When Miss Earth Lebanon posed for a photograph beside Miss Earth Israel, Lebanese organizers promptly stripped her of the title.

Lebanese law forbids its citizens from visiting or interacting with Israelis. The photo, which quickly spread across social media, violated that statute, prompting officials to revoke her crown. A former Miss Universe contestant from Lebanon faced a similar controversy after a selfie with an Israeli contestant surfaced; she escaped punishment by claiming the image was taken without her consent and describing herself as “ambushed.”

Salwa Akar, the former Miss Earth Lebanon, recounted that Miss Earth Israel approached her in Arabic, and she was unaware of her identity. Nonetheless, Lebanese officials emphasized the visible Israeli sash and upheld the revocation. The incident even drew comment from the Arabic‑language spokesman for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who rebuked the decision, while Akar posted a muted Facebook update without addressing the debacle.

4 Little House On The Prairie Deemed Racist

The Association for Library Service to Children created an award honoring authors who made a lasting impact on children’s literature, naming it after Laura Ingalls Wilder to celebrate her “Little House on the Prairie” series. Wilder herself received the inaugural honor in 1954, a few years before her death.

In recent years, the award’s name was rescinded. Critics argued that the series, while beloved, portrays minorities—particularly Native Americans—in a demeaning, dehumanizing manner. The Association concluded that the values expressed in Wilder’s books conflicted with its commitment to inclusiveness and respect, prompting a rename to the “Children’s Literature Legacy Award.”

Some view the decision as an anachronistic imposition of modern standards on historical works, yet the organization maintained that the award’s title must reflect contemporary values of diversity and equity.

3 A Happy Ending For A Sex Toy Company Stripped Of Its Prize

Lora DiCarlo, a maker of advanced robotic sex toys, unveiled the “Ose,” a female massager designed to emulate human touch, at the 2019 Consumer Electronics Show. Judges were impressed, awarding the product in the robotics category.

Shortly after, the Consumer Technology Association rescinded the honor, labeling the device “immoral” and “obscene,” arguing it didn’t align with the show’s image. The decision sparked accusations of gender bias, as men’s sex dolls and VR porn were regularly displayed without objection. Lora DiCarlo filed a complaint, asserting discriminatory treatment.

The story took a positive turn when the founder of YouPorn offered $50,000 in free advertising for the Ose. In May 2019, the CTA reinstated the award, acknowledging the controversy and restoring the company’s accolade.

2 Aung San Suu Kyi’s Rise And Fall

Aung San Suu Kyi, once the darling of the international community, earned the Nobel Peace Prize while under house arrest in Myanmar. Her steadfast advocacy for democracy garnered numerous awards and honors worldwide.

She later assumed a leadership role as “state counselor” in Myanmar’s civilian government, navigating constitutional barriers that barred foreigners’ relatives from the presidency. The military retained a veto power, but democratic reforms appeared to be progressing.

However, the Rohingya crisis erupted, with the military’s crackdown prompting accusations of ethnic cleansing. Suu Kyi downplayed the atrocities, describing the term “too strong.” Calls erupted to strip her of the Nobel Prize, but the Nobel Committee maintained its policy of awarding based on past deeds, refusing to rescind the honor. Other organizations, lacking such protections, withdrew their recognitions, and Amnesty International ceased to list her as a human‑rights champion.

1 The Soviet Spy Knighted By The Queen

While studying at Cambridge, Anthony Blunt fell under the sway of left‑wing ideas, joining the Cambridge Apostles—a secretive group that prized loyalty above all. There, he met Guy Burgess, who recruited him into the Soviet spy ring.

During World II, Blunt served in the British Army’s Intelligence Corps, later joining MI5 and heading the division responsible for communications with foreign embassies. Trusted implicitly, he was tasked with a covert royal mission to retrieve sensitive documents about the Duke of Windsor’s ties to Hitler.

Blunt believed these papers would serve as insurance if his espionage ever came to light. When the spy network was uncovered, he received immunity in exchange for confession, avoiding prosecution and retaining his position as the Queen’s picture surveyor. Public revelation of his treachery arrived via a bestselling book, prompting the government to explain its leniency. Nonetheless, authorities stripped him of his 1956 knighthood.

These ten tales illustrate that honors, however prestigious, can be as fragile as the reputations that earn them. Whether due to personal indiscretion, political upheaval, or shifting cultural standards, each story reminds us that the spotlight can quickly turn into a shadow.

When you think of award ceremonies, the Oscars, BAFTAs, and Golden Globes probably spring to mind. While the Golden Raspberry (Razzies) spoofs the worst movies, there’s an entire underworld of off‑beat honors that celebrate the odd, the humorous, and the downright bizarre. This article rolls out the top 10 bizarre awards you’ve likely never encountered, ranging from deliberately terrible art prizes to contests for the most phallic architecture.

From pun‑filled turnip trophies to a spoon bent by “paranormal” forces, these recognitions prove that humanity can find a reason to applaud almost anything—no matter how quirky or questionable. Dive in and discover the strange side of accolade culture.

Why These Top 10 Bizarre Awards Matter

10 The Turnip Prize

If you ever glance at contemporary art and feel that a five‑year‑old could have produced it, the Turnip Prize will speak to your sense of satire. Born in 1999 as a cheeky jab at the Tate Gallery’s Turner Prize, it rewards deliberately awful, low‑effort modern art. The catalyst was Tracey Emin’s notorious “My Bed”—a disheveled mattress surrounded by stained sheets, discarded condoms, vodka bottles and cigarettes—that had been shortlisted for the Turner Prize that year.

The competition thrives on groan‑worthy puns in both titles and artist names. In 2019, the entry “Bush Fire Down Under” by Fanny Scorcher won: women’s underwear with a charred hole in the front. Back in 2015, Bonksy snagged the prize with “Dismal And,” a hastily drawn sad ampersand on a wooden board. To match the deliberately shoddy entries, the award itself is a turnip impaled on a nail and mounted on a block of wood.

9 Mullet Awards at Mulletfest

Mulletfest, launched in 2018 in Kurri Kurri, Australia, celebrates the iconic “business in the front, party in the back” hairstyle. Founder Laura Johnson, herself a proud mullet‑wearer, created the festival after the town’s aluminum smelter shut down, leaving hundreds unemployed. She said her twin aims were to “bring business to Kurri” and “make people happy.”

The festival’s highlight is its quirky awards, which cover categories such as Everyday, Grubby, Extreme, and Ranga (for red hair). Age brackets range from Junior (0‑3 years) to Vintage (over 50). Each year the event grows, drawing mullet enthusiasts from across the globe. If you sport a mullet with pride, Mulletfest is the place to showcase it.

8 Worst Word/Un‑Word of the Year

The Plain English Foundation’s Worst Word (or phrase) award and Germany’s Un‑Word (Unwort des Jahres) both spotlight the most egregious distortion of clear language each year. The English version began light‑heartedly—KFC’s “goodification” snagged the 2012 prize, while Gwyneth Paltrow’s “conscious uncoupling” earned the 2014 award. Over time, the English prize has adopted a more serious tone, aligning more closely with its German counterpart.

In Germany, a panel of language experts selects the most defamatory and offensive term. The German Language Society originally announced both a Word of the Year and a non‑word, but since 1994 the non‑word is decided independently. Recent selections include 2021’s “pushback,” referring to forcing refugees back over a border without asylum access, and 2017’s “alternative facts” (alternative fakten), which topped both the English and German lists.

7 The World’s Most Phallic Building Contest

Journalist Jonathan Ames famously described Brooklyn’s Williamsburg Bank building in 2003 as “the most obviously phallic building I’ve ever seen.” In response, Cabinet magazine launched a global hunt for the world’s most phallic structure. Readers submitted entries from all corners of the globe, and the magazine’s editors crowned the Ypsilanti Water Tower in Michigan—erected in 1890—as the winner. Locals affectionately dub it the “Brick Dick.” However, the public’s vote favored the Florida State Capitol in Tallahassee, a building whose tall central shaft and twin domes give it a decidedly suggestive silhouette.

The contest highlights how architecture can unintentionally (or intentionally) evoke the male organ, turning everyday civic structures into objects of amusement and debate.

6 Nikon Small World Photomicrography Competition

Since 1975, Nikon Instruments has run the Small World competition, spotlighting the most striking photographs captured through a microscope. Entries are judged on informational content, originality, and visual beauty, with techniques ranging from phase‑contrast and polarized light to fluorescence, dark‑field, confocal, deconvolution and mixed methods.

The winning images reveal the bizarre and beautiful complexity of the microscopic world. Past top‑20 selections include a fluorescent turtle embryo (2019), a honey‑bee eye dusted with dandelion pollen (2015), and mouse colon cell nuclei (2006). Nikon also runs a Small World in Motion contest for videos and time‑lapse footage captured at the microscopic level.

5 The Bookseller/Diagram Prize for Oddest Title of the Year

Self‑explanatory, this award celebrates the most outlandish book title of the year. It originated as a light‑hearted gag at the 1978 Frankfurt Book Fair, and since 1982 The Bookseller magazine has administered it. Initially judged by a panel, the winner is now chosen by public vote on the magazine’s website, with publishers barred from nominating their own titles to keep the competition fair.

The 2021 winner, Roy Schwartz’s “Is Superman Circumcised?”—an academic probe into the Jewish origins of the Man of Steel—prompted the author to quip, “the competition was stiff, but I’m glad I was able to rise to the challenge.” Earlier victors include the delightfully odd “Goblinproofing One’s Chicken Coop,” “The Big Book of Lesbian Horse Stories,” and “Crocheting Adventures with Hyperbolic Planes.”

4 The Bad Sex in Fiction Award

Since 1993, the Literary Review magazine has handed out the Bad Sex in Fiction Award to novels featuring cringe‑worthy, poorly written sex scenes. Explicit erotic fiction is excluded, so E. L. James’s “Fifty Shades of Grey” never qualified. In 2020 the judges paused the award, explaining that the public had already endured “too many bad things” that year to also be exposed to bad sex.

The Independent has compiled many of the most laughable scenes, though not all nominees appreciate the humor. 2004 winner Tom Wolfe’s “I Am Charlotte Simmons” featured the line “slither slither slither slither went the tongue,” prompting Wolfe to comment, “You can lead an English literary wannabe to irony, but you can’t make him get it.” Morrissey’s “List of the Lost” won in 2015 with lines like “the pained frenzy of his bulbous salutation,” and the singer advised keeping a “distance” from the prize to avoid “repulsive horrors pulling you down.”

3 The Barbara Dex Award

The Eurovision Song Contest is famed for its eccentric songs and outlandish costumes. While nations cast votes for their favorite tunes (or, let’s be honest, their friends), online fans decide who earns the Barbara Dex Award for the most striking look of the evening. Created in 1997, the award honors Barbara Dex, whose 1993 semi‑transparent dress made her look “like a lampshade” while representing Belgium.

Originally a “worst dressed” accolade, the award now celebrates the most striking outfits. Memorable entries include Lithuania’s 2014 rubber ballerina‑domininatrix look and Croatia’s 2016 tent‑like Japanese kimono, which was dramatically peeled away to reveal a metallic feathered dress. Fans can watch the full performances on the Belgian site Songfestival.be.

2 The Bent Spoon Award

Since 1982, Australian Skeptics—dedicated to scientifically examining pseudoscience and paranormal claims—have presented the Bent Spoon Award to the “perpetrator of the most preposterous piece of paranormal or pseudoscientific piffle.” The trophy is a spoon, allegedly used at the Last Supper, affixed to a wooden handle said to be from Noah’s Ark, bent by mysterious forces and plated in gold via a lost Atlantean process. Winners must “remove it from our keeping by paranormal means,” a feat no one has achieved.

In 1985 the award went to the Findhorn Foundation, which funded self‑proclaimed psychic dentist Willard Fuller, who claimed he could make cavities vanish and turn amalgam fillings into gold through prayer. In 2012, Fran Sheffield of Homeopathy Plus! received the spoon for asserting the whooping‑cough vaccine was ineffective and urging people to use homeopathic remedies instead.

1 Comedy Wildlife Photography Awards

Animals caught in absurd moments are comedy gold, and this award celebrates just that. While many wildlife photography contests showcase the planet’s beauty, the Comedy Wildlife Photography Awards (started in 2015) spotlight the funny side of nature, welcoming both novices and seasoned photographers.

Viewing the winners is essential—2021’s champion features a monkey that appears to have injured his family jewels after landing on a cable (photographer Ken Jensen notes it’s actually a display of aggression). The 2020 winner shows a turtle giving the camera a decidedly rude middle finger. All finalists and winners are displayed on the official website.

An award is something every person craves for. There are numerous awards given in almost all fields out there, from literature to architecture. And there are some awards, absolutely bizarre in their aspects. They recognises some hilarious and rare achievements. Over the years, they have grabbed the world’s attention and even inspired competition among people to win them or to avoid them. Here is a list of 10 of the weirdest awards around the world.

Top 10 Weirdest Awards:

10. Darwin Awards

The Darwin Awards, named after famous naturalist Charles Darwin is given posthumously to those who make the ultimate sacrifice to protect the gene pool, via death or sterilization. In simple words, it is given to a person who dies in the most idiotic way. It was the brainchild of a group of people in the later 1980s and was officially started in 1993, under the leadership of researcher and writer Wendy Northcutt. The concept even became a subject for a film, titled The Darwin Awards, directed by Finn Taylor in 2006.

9. Ig Nobel Prize

Founded by the scientific humor magazine Annals of Improbable Research in 1991, the Ig Nobel Prize is given to seemingly bizarre inventions that make us laugh and think. The awards are given in 10 categories and presented at Sanders Theater at Harvard University. Sir Andre Geim is so far the only person to have received both a Nobel Prize and an Ig Nobel prize. He won the Ig Nobel in 2000 and the Nobel Prize in 2010, both in Physics.

The Foot in Mouth Award is presented each year to a person who makes the most confounding comment each year. Founded in 1993, it has been given by the magazine the Plain English Campaign. It was first awarded to Ted Dexter, the then chairman of selectors of England Cricket team. The other winners include Alicia Silverstone, Gordon Brown and Silvio Berlusconi. Welsh politician Rhodri Morgan is so far the only one to have been selected for the award twice. However, former American President George W Bush was presented a lifetime achievement award in 2008 for his continuous baffling remarks over the years.

7. Ernie Awards

Given in Australia, the Ernie Awards were begun in 1993, and is named after Ernie Ecob, former secretary of Australian Workers’ Union who was infamous for his misogynist remarks. Once he even said that the women come to the shearing sheds for sex. The first award ceremony was in celebration of his resignation from Labor Council of New South Wales. Since then it has been presented annually to people who make misogynist comments. The award has been given across various categories. Famous people including former Australian Prime Minister John Howard and Tony Abbott have won the undesirable awards multiple times.

6. Bent Spoon Award

The Bent Spoon Award, instituted by Australian Skeptics in 1982, is presented to an individual who makes the most preposterous claim of paranormal or pseudoscientific nature. The award is given to only Australian citizens or those who carry out their activities in Australia. The winner of the inaugural award was psychic Tom Wards. The award trophy, yet to be seen by anyone, is claimed to consist of a piece of wood from the Noah’s Ark on which a spoon used in the Last Supper is affixed. The spoon is bent by some extraordinary energy and gold-plated by Atlantean process and the winners must acquire the trophy by paranormal means, a task which is yet to be accomplished.

5. Golden Collar Awards

The Golden Collar Awards are like the Academy Awards, only they are presented to dogs. It was created in 2012 by the website Dog News Daily to recognise the best canine actors. The awards are given in five categories each year. The winner receives a trophy designed by Simon Tavassoli, depicting an Italian Leather Collar embedded with Swarovski crystals. The award ceremony is also modeled after the Oscars.

4. Bad Sex in Fiction Award

Often called the most dreaded literary prize in Britain, this award is presented each year to the author who portrays a sex scene in the worst possible way in a novel. Given by the British magazine Literary Review, it was instituted in 1993 by Rhoda Koenig, a literary critic, and Auberon Waugh, the erstwhile editor of Literary Review. The award memento depicts a naked woman draped over an open book. The award’s aim is to discourage the tasteless description of sex in modern literature. It was first presented to Melvyn Bragg for his novel A Time to Dance. Popular writers like Philip Kerr, Ben Okri, Manil Suri and Tom Wolfe are among the winners of the award.

3. Diagram Prize

The Diagram Prize, instituted in 1978, is a humorous literary award given to a book with the oddest title every year. Its official title is the Diagram Group Prize for the Oddest Title of the Year and is named after the Diagram Group, an information and graphics company based in London. The award is given by The Bookseller, a British trade magazine about publishing industry. Living with Crazy Buttocks, The Joy of Chickens, Oral Sadism and the Vegetarian Personality, Cooking with Poo and Bombproof Your Horse are some of the winning titles. The winner is selected through a public voting on the website of The Bookseller.

2. Pigasus Award

The Pigasus Award was founded in 1982 and is given by popular American skeptic James Randi. It is presented to the individuals who make absurd claims of paranormal and psychic activities. The awards are usually announced on the April Fools day. It was earlier known as Uri Trophy, and was named Pigasus award in 1997. The fictious trophy consists of a paranormally bent steel spoon attached to a transparent base of plastic.

1. Big Brother Awards – Weirdest Awards

Named after the George Orwell character Big Brother from the famous novel Nineteen Eighty-Four, Big Brother awards are given to individuals, authorities or organisations who commit activities that imperil the privacy of people. Various countries, including US, UK, Japan, France, Spain and Germany, have their own versions of the awards, which are presented by different human rights groups. The awards are organised to invite attention to the increasing privacy violations by the authorities.