Honorary title or title of honor is a title bestowed upon individuals or organizations as an award in recognition of their merits. An award is something given to a person or group of people to recognize excellence in a certain field. ...

Sometimes the title bears the same or nearly the same name as a title of authority, but the person bestowed does not have to carry any duties, possibly except for ceremonial ones. Title of authority, title of office or title of command is the the official designation of a position held in an organization (e. ...

Some examples of honorary titles from various areas are:

• Kentucky colonel
• Knight of an honorific order
• Hero of the Russian Federation
• Academician
• Patriarch of Venice

Man of the Year is not an honorary title. Kentucky Colonel is a honorary title bestowed upon individuals by approval of the Governor of Kentucky. ... The silver Anglia knight, commissioned as a trophy in 1850, intended to represent the Black Prince. ... Obverse of the Gold Star medal Hero of the Russian Federation (Russian: ) is the highest honorary title that can be bestowed on a citizen by the Russian Federation. ... The title Academician denotes a Full Member of an art, literary, or scientific academy. ... Among the Patriarchates in the West, the Pope, as Bishop of Rome is the only truly independent Patriarch. ... Person of the Year is an annual issue of U.S. newsmagazine TIME that features a profile ostensibly on the man, woman, couple, group, idea, place, or machine that for better or worse, has most influenced events in the preceding year. ...

Some historical honorary title may be bought, just like certain nobility titles. This has long been a matter of fraud, both outright and indirect: people often fail to realize that the value of a title is based on the prestige of the awarding body, rather on the amount paid for it. The Lords and Barons prove their Nobility by hanging their Banners and exposing their Coats-of-arms at the door of the Lodge of the Heralds. ...

Some honorary titles serve as positions of sinecure and honorary retirement. A sinecure (from Latin sine, without, and cura, care) means an office which requires or involves little or no responsibility, labour, or active service. ... Retirement is the status of a worker who has stopped working. ...