1.1 Mission

Among the goals of the American Orchid Society (AOS) are the promotion of knowledge and appreciation of orchids by the public, as well as the education of the public relative to orchids. The AOS Judging System, as implemented by this Handbook, is designed to support these goals by providing a process to its members, affiliated societies, and orchid growers everywhere (both domestic and international) by which their orchids can be evaluated and judged for AOS awards. AOS judges provide this service through regularly scheduled judging sessions at the various AOS judging centers and additional sites, at AOS-sanctioned shows, and at other AOS-sanctioned events, such as outreach judging and orchid-related symposia. This process is designed to recognize quality orchid plants and flowers, exceptional achievements in orchid cultivation, and significant advancements in breeding, hybridization, and artistic design; it also seeks to increase public awareness of the vast variety and diversity of orchid species found all over the world. All orchid growers are encouraged to take advantage of this service.

1.2 History

Founded in 1921, the judging and recognizing exceptional orchid plants and growers' skills has been an integral part of the AOS’s history; the first AOS National Orchid Show was held in 1924 at which gold and silver medals were awarded. Permanent, recorded awards that would follow an outstanding plant's name were created in 1932, the AOS' eleventh year.

Each quarterly meeting, the president selected people with suitable background and experience to act informally as judges, casting votes in the manner of the Orchid Committee of the Royal Horticultural Society.

With growing membership and the affiliation of more regional societies, the demand for exhibition and evaluation spurred the AOS to expand the scope of judging, formalize the development of a permanent community of judges, and standardize its rules. To codify and distribute these rules, as well as material on staging shows and orchid nomenclature, the first edition of the Handbook was published in 1949. That year also saw the establishment of monthly exhibitions in the facilities of the Horticultural Society of New York through its cooperation with the newly created AOS Committee on Arrangements, soon called the Committee on Awards and renamed the Judging Committee in 1996.

Orchids could then be brought from anywhere and be judged for AOS awards.

The First World Orchid Conference, held in Saint Louis, Missouri in 1954, brought together delegates from several orchid societies, many with existing judging programs, to establish a standard system of point scales. This concordance created a capacity to serve the orchid community with regular, monthly AOS judging somewhere in the United States each week. Joining New York as regional judging centers were Los Angeles, Miami, Oakland, and, in 1959, Honolulu so that, in the age of air express, COA Chair Helen H. Adams could report, "theoretically, no flower need blush unjudged."

As the AOS and its judging sphere grew, the JC was charged with the responsibility to manage and develop a stable, yet flexible system to ensure effective service to its constituents and allow change when appropriate. The concept of judging regions arose, each region's committee comprising its roster of certified judges. Regions were to conduct regular monthly judging at specified sites and at shows of the AOS Affiliated Societies within specified boundaries, and train and present to the JC qualified candidates for appointment as judges. The elected regional chairs came to be members of

the JC, presenting the regions' proposals and voting in congress with members appointed by the trustees, to whom recommendations were sent for resolution.

To further consolidate varied viewpoints, the chair of the JC and membership of the working committee was to be rotated among the regions. New perspectives, in concert with established practice, could be applied to standards, techniques, and procedures as the system evolved.

And evolve it did. The AOS judging system grew tremendously through considered management by the regions, the JC, and the trustees, balancing strong opinion with care for the need for equity and common sense. From the 1960s through the mid-1990s, new centers opened, regions divided, regional boundaries were adjusted, and international jurisdictions were established, all to facilitate effective administration and extend more judging capabilities to the Affiliated Societies and exhibitors. Fifteen regions emerged, and 12 supplemental judging centers augmented some regions. Five were conveyed in the merger of the Orchid Digest Corporation and AOS judging systems in 1968.

A further step was taken in 1996 to allow even more flexibility in judging services: a restructuring of the regional concept into a community of judging centers without sharply defined boundaries, all with a representative on the JC. Existing associations of Affiliated Societies and judging centers would remain as constituted unless a group specifically applied for a change. A newly affiliating society could select a center it would support and be served by. Many of the supplemental judging centers became independent centers separate from their former regional committees. Others geographically close to their primary center were acknowledged as integral to providing an additional judging session each month, maintaining one cohesive committee of judges to serve both centers.

It was intended that, with greater emphasis on the development of the judging center committees' relationships with their Affiliated Societies, the AOS judging program could provide greater service. Through 85 years of formal AOS judging, 27 judging centers have come to operate 36 judging sites. In improving proximity and higher frequency of judging to orchidist growers who wish to have their plants judged or join the judging community, Mrs. Adam’s perception of the desired direction of AOS judging has indeed blossomed.

1.3 Judging Centers (locations and dates established):

Alamo Judging Center(San Antonio, TX - 1968 - [Austin, TX - 1962])
Atlanta Judging Center (Atlanta, GA - 1973)
California-Sierra Nevada Judging Center (Sacramento CA - 2005)
       Lincoln, CA - 2022
CarolinasJudging Center(Raleigh, NC – 1998, Greensboro, NC – 2005)
Chicago Judging Center (Chicago, IL - 1990)
Cincinnati Judging Center (Cincinnati, OH - 1993)
Dallas Judging Center (Dallas, TX - 1968-70*, 1988)
Florida-Caribbean Judging Center (Miami, FL – 1955)
Florida North-Central Judging Centers
       Tampa,FL-1966
       Orlando, FL - 2003
Great Lakes Judging Center (Ann Arbor, MI - 1972)
Great PlainsJudging Center(Oklahoma City, OK - 1980)
Hawaii Judging Centers
       Hawaii Judging Center(Honolulu, HI-1959)
       Big Island Additional Judging Site (Hilo, HI* - 1968)
       Maui Additional Judging Site (Lahaina, HI* - 1968)
Houston Judging Center (Houston, TX - 1991)
Louisiana Judging Center (Shreveport, LA-2007, Alexandria, LA, 2021)
Mid-America Judging Center (St. Louis, MO - 1961)
Mid-Atlantic Judging Center (Philadelphia, PA - 1984)
Montreal Judging Center (Montreal, QC*** – 2020)
National Capital Judging Center (Washington, DC - 1976)
Northeast Judging Centers:
      Northborough, MA– 2024 (Boylston, MA – 1996-2024)
      Englewood, NJ– 2024 (MorrisTownship,NJ–2018-2023Stamford,CT–2012-18,Elmsford,NY-1998-2012,White Plains,NY-1993-98[NYC-1949-62,1971-93])
Pacific Central Judging Centers
       San Francisco, CA* - 1968
       Woodside, CA – 2019 (Oakland, CA–1955 – 2019)
Pacific Northwest Judging Center (Salem, OR** – 2006 (Tacoma, WA- 1981 – [Seattle, WA- 1962])
Pacific South Judging Centers
       Pacific South Judging Center (Burbank, CA - 1994-[Los Angeles, CA -1955])
       Pacific South Additional Judging Site (Long Beach, CA* - 1968))
       Pacific South Additional Judging Site (San Diego, CA – 2006 – (Encinitas, CA – 2002-06))
       Pacific South Additional Judging Site (Santa Barbara, CA - 2007)
Puerto Rico Judging Center (San Juan, PR - 2013)
Rocky Mountain Judging Center (Denver, CO - 1990)
Toronto Judging Center (Toronto, ON – 1992)
West Palm Beach Judging Center (West Palm Beach, FL - 1992)
Western Canada Judging Center (Richmond, BC – 2017)

* Denotes former Orchid Digest Judging Centers
** Established as an additional site for the Pacific Northwest Judging Center in 2006, the Salem OR site became the sole site for the center in 2018 when the Seattle site closed its doors in March 2018.
*** Established as an additional site for the Toronto Judging Center in 2005, the Montreal Judging Center became an autonomous center on April 23, 2020.

1.4 Award Records

Chronological records for all the awards were published by the AOS and kept in the Register of Awards from 1932 to 1968, in 7 volumes. These records contained the name of the cultivar, the award received and the name and address of the exhibitor. Most of these awards also had some form of description of the plant or flower.

In 1969, the AOS trustees established that a picture must be added to the record and began publishing a quarterly magazine named the AOS Awards Quarterly, better known as the AQ. The AQ ceased to publish in December 2007.with Volume 38, Number 4.

In 2006, the AOS obtained digital copies of approximately 40,000 award slides that were incorporated in 2007 into a computer program named AQ Plus. This program replaced the printed AQ and was updated quarterly. In 2014, the final update to AQ Plus was produced and a new computer program, Orchids Plus, was implemented. In 2019 OrchidPro was introduced and has since replaced Orchids Plus.

Maintaining a continuous access to OrchidPro, now the official record of AOS awards, is required of all judging personnel. It serves as the primary source of reference to judges in evaluating plants and flowers, and includes the name of the awarded plant, the circumstances in which the award was granted, a description of the plant in flower, and, in most instances, an image of the awarded flower or plant.