The Duke of Edinburgh founded the Duke of Edinburgh Awards (愛丁堡公爵獎 )in the UK in 1956 with the help of the famous educator Dr. Kurt Hahn and the first person to conquer the Philistines, Lord Hunt. The Duke of Edinburgh affirmed that the purpose of the rewards program is to help young people make good use of their free time to inspire themselves, challenge themselves, serve others, and serve be a model for those who care about the development of young people.
The Hong Kong Youth Award Scheme (formerly known as the Duke of Edinburgh Awards Scheme) was established in 1961 and is a member of the International Youth Awards Association. The award scheme has an international recognition system that allows young people aged 14 to 24 to develop a spirit of challenge and perseverance by completing the award requirements.
AYP uses the Global bird as a symbol, which includes that the values of the award scheme should be executed all over the world, the standards applicable to any country, and the determination to belong to the world. In addition, the dove of peace flying upward in the logo symbolizes the importance of personal development and triggers a message of self-improvement and self-confidence(自我完善和自信).