Instagram has handed out its creator awards for the year, and the prize is an actual ring. According to Adweek‘s Mark Mwachiro, the platform named 25 global creators as winners of its 2026 Rings Awards, a list that includes soccer star Erling Haaland, Subway Takes host Kareem Rahma and the Mexican band Latin Mafia.
Who made the list
Now in their second year, the awards are meant to honor people who take creative risks and shape culture on and off the app, Adweek reports. Other honorees include Brazilian musician Joyce Alane and Indian model Bhavitha Mandava. According to Livemint, the winners also include footwear designer Salehe Bembury, photographer Renell Medrano, actor and writer Jordan Firstman, comedian Pooja Tripathi, forager and educator Alexis Nikole Nelson and the UK book community Under the Cover.
One of the two Indian winners has a famous clip behind him. According to Mathrubhumi English, Kerala freestyle footballer Muhammad Rizwan, 23, has 2.7 million followers, and his 2023 video of kicking a ball toward a waterfall was viewed about 600 million times, setting a record as the most-viewed Instagram Reel. The outlet reports he took up freestyle after doctors told him, following a 2015 accident, that he wouldn’t be able to play football again.
Judges and what winners get
A panel of judges picked the winners, Adweek reports, including Donatella Versace, A$AP Rocky, Finneas, Chloé Zhao, Mikaela Shiffrin, Eva Chen and Instagram head Adam Mosseri. Meta’s head of marketing for its consumer apps told Adweek that creativity “often is not the thing you end up posting,” but everything that comes before it, from chasing an idea to “overcoming doubt.”
Each winner gets a physical ring designed by judge Bode Aujla, which Livemint says features a four-leaf clover made of Connemara marble, plus a digital gold ring around their Instagram profile picture. Mathrubhumi English adds that winners can change their profile background color and get a custom style for the like button on their posts. Adweek reports the winners and their work will also be shown on screens in New York’s Times Square and on the front of the Dream Hotel in the Meatpacking District.
Not a follower count contest
Livemint reports the program, launched in October 2025, puts creativity and impact ahead of follower numbers. Instagram’s marketing chief told Adweek the company hopes that a few years from now, creators who see the ring on someone’s profile will “understand what it took to earn it.”
The takeaway
Platforms are fighting to keep creators loyal, and status symbols are a cheap way to do it. A badge that’s tied to craft instead of reach gives smaller, original accounts a shot at recognition, but it doesn’t pay the bills. For most creators, the real value is the extra visibility, like a Times Square slot, that can turn into brand deals down the line.
Image: AI-generated illustration.
