How to get the Golden Instagram Ring and stand out

Instagram’s new Rings badge is a visible status symbol, turning bold creatives into award-winning daredevils with a sparkling gold halo around your profile photo and a designer ring on your finger. Aside from bragging rights, honorees gain access to profile customization perks, like a personalized background and a personalized treatment for the “like” button. If you are after that ring in both digital and physical form, here is how the program works, and how to position your work for consideration.

What the Golden Ring really means for creators

Rings is the Instagram creator award for originality and independent risk-taking, not a pat on the back for follower size or view counts. Those chosen receive two things: a gold ring around their profile photo displayed throughout the app and an actual, wearable ring meant to stand for creative bravery. Winners receive temporary aesthetic controls that make their profiles immediately identifiable, too.

The lineup is selected by a jury with broad cross‑cultural clout. Judges include:

• Director Spike Lee
• Fashion figures Marc Jacobs and Grace Wales Bonner
• Artist KAWS
• Beauty great Pat McGrath
• Tech whiz Marques Brownlee
• Actor-writer-activist Yara Shahidi
• Chef-pâtissier Cédric Grolet
• Olympic rugby player Ilona Maher
• Producer Tainy
• Travel creator Murad Osmann
• Style supremo Eva Chen
• Instagram head Adam Mosseri

Grace Wales Bonner designed the “physical” ring, highlighting its design chops.

Who decides and what they prize in the Rings awards

This is a juried honor. Judges from the organization nominate and vote for creators who regularly break new ground in culture. Across disciplines, the throughline is high‑effort craft, a unique point of view, and an openness to playing with format. Think multi-hyphenate creators who turn a trend into something clearly and unmistakably their own, who show process as well as polish, and who build communities rather than chasing one-off spikes.

Instagram’s framing leans heavily toward bravery: releasing ideas into the wild, iterating in public, and testing what counts as a “safe” post, by their logic. In other words, the ring incentivizes creative leadership on the platform — people who create the feed, not only surf it.

Practical ways to boost your odds of earning a Ring

Develop a signature. From Reels to carousels, photo essays and lives, your work should be immediately recognizable in tone, pacing and visual language. A familiar “you” bests a revolving collection of borrowed aesthetics.

Show the making. Judges gravitate to high‑effort output. Behind‑the‑scenes cuts, in‑progress drafts, and side-by-side before-and-after posts all signal craft and intent. Creators such as Zach King or Khaby Lame developed followings by iterating (and iterating) formats; the lesson is process, not a mimicry of others.

Push format boundaries. ‘Gimmicks’ like Remix, Collabs, and interactive stickers are not gimmicks if there’s an idea being serviced by them. Test-drive new series, experiment with looping structures, and invite audience participation that helps to shape the following installment. If all you are doing is echoing things that already click, you aren’t a leader.

Optimize for meaningful signals. When it comes to cultural impact, saves, shares, remixes, and comments with substance are greater than raw reach. Utilize your pinning and the talk behind the image to drive conversation instead of empty engagement bait.

Build beyond the trend cycle. Make connections between your work and real-world communities, causes, or craft traditions. These partnerships with museums, festivals, independents, or local collectives give credibility and context that juries pick up on.

Mind quality control. Great audio and lighting, thoughtful editing — those are table stakes for an award for creativity. High production value isn’t a substitute for ideas, but it can be the difference between experimental and unfinished.

Can you get one or buy one? How eligibility works

No. You can’t spend your way to Rings, nor can you earn them through follower milestones. It’s a jury- and internal teams–nomination-driven selection process. If you’d like to be eligible for future cohorts, plug into the platform’s creator ecosystem — meaning get involved with official creator programs, collaborate in a group of peers who operate at high quality or better, and maintain your account in good policy standing. Visibility to the right eyes and more years of consistently outstanding work matter.

From profile to finger: how the physical ring is given

The physical ring is a hand‑crafted, limited‑edition piece given to honorees. It’s not a merch drop, and not for sale to the public. Winners can expect sizing matching and delivery from Instagram itself. The piece is an amulet for creative risk, not a paywalled accessory.

Why this recognition matters for creators and brands

Instagram is reaching billions of people each month, and the creator economy is a giant new market. According to Goldman Sachs Research, the sector may be headed toward nearly half a trillion dollars in the next several years. Awards that indicate creative leadership can distinguish you to brands, agencies, and platforms. Industry statistics from companies like Influencer Marketing Hub suggest that perceived expertise, and third‑party validation, tend to translate into higher prices — as well as longer‑term arrangements.

Rings isn’t an equation, like YouTube’s subscriber plaques. It’s more like getting a film festival laurel or design prize — a peer-acknowledgment that you’re pushing the medium forward on this platform.

Bottom line: what to focus on to earn the Golden Ring

If what you want is the “golden circle” on your profile page and a designer ring on your finger, build work that couldn’t have been made without you, ship it relentlessly, and take creative risks that encourage others to come along for the ride. What the jury is on the lookout for are original voices, not larger followings. Lead the culture, and the ring might come.