WASHINGTON NAVY YARD-Naval History and Heritage Command (NHHC) officially announced the 2026Navy History and Heritage Awards (NHHA) Program season, Feb. 17.
The Navy History and Heritage Awards (NHHA) Program wasestablishedin 2020 to recognize public, nonprofit, 501(c)(3) organizations, including museums and individuals, who incorporate the history and heritage of the United States Navy into their publications, documents, and artifacts at their facilities. Organizations eligible for the program encourage and publicize scholarly, well-researched historical stories that depict the Navy’s history and heritage as well as preserve andmaintainartifacts on loan from the Navy.
“Each of these non-federal museums communicates the storied history of the U.S. Navy to the public, while emphasizing the importance of sea power to the security of our nation,” said NHHC Director Samuel J. Cox, U.S. Navy rear admiral (retired) “They deserve to be recognized for upholding Navy excellence by honoring those that have served while continuing to inspire and educate our next generation.”
This program supports and promotes effective programs in non-federal organizations for exhibits, artifacts, and historical research. The awards program of 2026marks thesixthiteration of this annual awards program.Applicants wishing toparticipatein the Navy History and Heritage Awards program may do so in one of three categories:
Navy History and Heritage Excellence Pennant (History “E”):Presented to the organization recognized for outstanding overall achievement in operations, including maintenance, curation/conservation, exhibitory, and Navy history education from organizations offering U.S. Navy-related programming to the public.
Maintenance Excellence Pennant (Maintenance “E”): Presentedto the organization that hasdemonstratedgreatest improvement in material condition over the past year of a macro artifact (a historic ship oraircraft).
Curatorial Excellence Pennant (Curatorial “C”):Presented to the organization that has achieved excellence in the curation of the collections in its care, includingmaintainingand interpreting Navy artifacts on loan from NHHC central and local collections.
The window for submissions covering the 2025calendar year will open March 1,2026and close June 1, 2026. Organizations maysubmitfor award consideration by printing and fully completing the application for the category in which they wish to compete.
Applications are available on the NHHC website athttps://mcas-proxyweb.mcas-gov.us/certificate-checker?login=false&originalUrl=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.history.navy.mil.mcas-gov.us%2Fget-involved%2Fnhhc-awards-program.html%3FMcasTsid%3D20892&McasCSRF=c0ab34b5f549b01341912afafa5470f64ac8e78310895f57ee6a0bbb779f4438.
For Frequently Asked Questions about the Annual NHHAProgram, pleasevisit:https://mcas-proxyweb.mcas-gov.us/certificate-checker?login=false&originalUrl=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.history.navy.mil.mcas-gov.us%2Fget-involved%2Fnhhc-awards-program%2Faward-faqs.html%3FMcasTsid%3D20892&McasCSRF=c0ab34b5f549b01341912afafa5470f64ac8e78310895f57ee6a0bbb779f4438
NHHC, located at the Washington Navy Yard, is responsible for the preservation, analysis, and dissemination of U.S. naval history and heritage. It provides the knowledge foundation for the Navy by maintaining historically relevant resources and products that reflect the Navy's unique and enduring contributions through our nation's history and supports the fleet by assisting with and delivering professional research, analysis, and interpretive services. NHHC is composed of many activities including the Navy Department Library, the Navy Operational Archives, the Navy art and artifact collections, underwater archeology, Navy histories, ten museums, USS Constitution repair facility and the historic ship Nautilus. For more news from NHHC, visit http://www.history.navy.mil