I just looked into my account and saw an area there with the latest polls, news and topic but I'm wondering what those awards are and how to get some?

you can get awards and ribbons by joining the campaigns in Armorama or when you are chosen as the user of the month...best regards

Moderator of the forum also shows up with a multi-colored ribbon with the letter "M" in it. It only shows in the forum you moderate. For example, I moderate the aircraft and armor forums so my "Author" data shows my moderator ribbon, here (or in others) it does not. The big Order of the Rivet one is the one you get for being User of the Month. Various group builds have their own campaign ribbon for successful participants.