The Royal Award Ceremony occurred in the Great Temple on Yavin 4 the morning following the Battle of Yavin; it was a medal ceremony. This event was held to honor Luke Skywalker, the Rebel pilot who fired the decisive shot that led to the destruction of the Death Star during the battle. Han Solo and Chewbacca, who assisted Skywalker in the battle, were also recognized. Celebratory music filled the air during the ceremony. At the sound of trumpets, Princess Leia Organa presented Skywalker and Solo with medals of Bravery. Chewbacca later received a medal in private. The ceremony also paid tribute to those who died when the Death Star destroyed Alderaan. Rebel General Jan Dodonna concluded the ceremony by announcing the Rebellion's imminent evacuation of its base in search of a new location.
In the year 0 BBY, the Alliance to Restore the Republic engaged the Galactic Empire in its first decisive engagement. This involved stealing the plans for the Death Star, an Imperial superweapon with the capacity to obliterate entire planets. After the plans were successfully stolen, they were transmitted to Princess Leia Organa of Alderaan. Subsequently, she was captured by Imperial forces under the command of Darth Vader and taken aboard the Death Star. There, she was tortured to reveal information regarding the location of the Rebel Base. After witnessing the destruction of her homeworld, Organa was rescued by Jedi Master Obi-Wan Kenobi, the smuggler Han Solo, Luke Skywalker a young farmboy from Tatooine, and the Wookiee Chewbacca.
Following the rescue, the group journeyed to Yavin 4, the location of the Rebel base. Unbeknownst to them, the Death Star was secretly tracking their ship because Darth Vader had secretly placed a homing beacon on board. Upon arrival, the Rebels formulated a plan to destroy the battle station using the stolen plans, which had been placed into R2-D2 just before Organa's capture. The ensuing battle resulted in the Death Star's destruction.
The subsequent morning saw the ceremony held to give recognition to Skywalker, Solo, and Chewbacca for their instrumental roles in the Death Star's demise. The sound of trumpets accompanied their entrance into the throne room, where hundreds of uniformed Rebel troops were assembled on either side of the trio. Upon reaching the end of the aisle, Organa stepped forward to place a medal around Solo's neck, who responded with a wink and a smile toward the princess. The princess then repeated the same procedure with Skywalker. After the awarding of the medals, Organa expressed her congratulations to all those assembled for their contributions to the destruction of the Death Star, and requested a moment of silence to remember those who killed in The Disaster. Chewbacca received his medal in a private ceremony shortly after the main event concluded.
Due to the Galactic Empire's knowledge of the base's location, the evacuation of the base commenced immediately following the ceremony. Organa, having recently learned from Evaan Verlaine that the Empire was hunting down the survivors of Alderaan, embarked on a mission with her to rescue them, despite significant opposition from General Jan Dodonna.
The triumphal celebration on Yavin 4 serves as the concluding scene of Star Wars: Episode IV A New Hope, which was the initial installment of the original trilogy released in 1977. The filming of the scene took place at the expansive H Stage of Shepperton Studios, situated in Shepperton, England. While the majority of the interior scenes were filmed at Elstree Studios, located just outside of London, Elstree lacked a stage of sufficient size to accommodate the chamber at that time, which led to the relocation of shooting to Shepperton. The filming of this scene spanned two days, specifically May 13 and 14 of 1976, occurring midway through the principal photography phase when camaraderie among the main actors had significantly developed. The extras, who were cast to portray the assembled troops, donned orange X-wing pilot costumes and olive-green US Marine suits. Apart from R2-D2's beeping sounds and Chewbacca's roars, the scene contained no dialogue and was underscored by "The Throne Room," a march composed by John Williams and performed by the London Symphony Orchestra.
The filmmakers had originally envisioned utilizing a matte painting to depict the gathering of Rebels present for the ceremony. However, due to the difficulties encountered, the scene was ultimately filmed by repositioning the extras within the frame to create the illusion of a large assembly. The extras were initially filmed at the near end of the stage, then subsequently relocated to the middle and finally to the far end of the room. According to Star Wars: Behind the Magic, the extras displayed a lack of reverence towards Harrison Ford and Mark Hamill, who portrayed Han Solo and Luke Skywalker, respectively. The extras harbored the belief that the film would be a failure and openly mocked the actors as they walked through the set, whispering insults. The original concept involved the droids R2-D2 and C-3PO, played by Kenny Baker and Anthony Daniels, marching up the aisle alongside the other characters. However, due to the limitations imposed by their costumes, Baker and Daniels were unable to navigate stairs, leading to the decision that the droids would remain on the platform with the Princess. In reference to her portrayal of Leia Organa in the final scene, Carrie Fisher once stated: "The last line in the script was that the Princess is way down the hall and she is staggeringly beautiful. I crossed off the 'ly' and 'beautiful' and felt this new wording more approached what I would bring to the character."
This concluding ceremony segment closely mirrors a similar scene found in Triumph des Willens, a 1934 Nazi propaganda film directed by Leni Riefenstahl. Both segments showcase a large and enthusiastic crowd congregated in a ceremonial hall defined by columns, with a low podium where the leader stands—in Triumph des Willens, the leader was Adolf Hitler. This parallel is noteworthy, considering that Nazi references in Star Wars typically pertain to the Galactic Empire of Palpatine, whose authoritarian regime bears resemblance to Hitler's Third Reich.
Many iterations of the movie script concluded with a celebration. In the initial drafts, Princess Leia was crowned Queen, while in the third and early fourth drafts, Obi-Wan Kenobi was present at the ceremony, having survived his confrontation with Darth Vader.