The English word trophy is derived from the French word “trophee” and the Greek word “tropaion”. The Greek word “tropaion” means to defeat and the French word “trophee” essentially means spoils of war.
For the Greeks, the trophies started from the battlefield. The victorious team made a kind of warrior figure with the arms and banners of the defeated team. This figure was hung from a tree and stories of battles were inscribed and dedicated to god and then destroyed as a sacrilege. The Romans built extravagant trophies consisting of columns and arches on a base.
The Olympic Games, today, use medals to commemorate the winners. In ancient Greece, Olympic winners were congratulated with a laurel wreath and not awarded trophies.
Originally a trophy was shaped like a chalice and was made with a wooden base, a wooden column and a metal figure. But with the passage of time the trends changed and the wood was replaced by marble and the figures are made of plastic and painted in the desired color.
The shapes and sizes of a trophy have also evolved over time. The goblet is still used in various prominent sporting events such as the Davis Cup and Stanley Cup, but there are other interesting figurines being used as a stylized human for the academy awards or the Oscars and the use of a spaceship for the Hugo awards for science.
The current FIFA world cup trophy is designed by Silvio Gazzaniga and has been in service since 1974. The award depicts two human figures holding the Earth. The current trophy weighs 5 kilos and is 36.5 centimeters high. Both the Wimbledon and FIFA World Cup trophy cannot be won directly, tournament winners get a replica of the trophy.
No matter what the game is, the trophy is what makes the games exciting!