In 1997, the first journal paper on Lua was awarded the first prize (technological category) in the II Compaq Award for Research and Development in Computer Science. This award was a joint venture of Compaq Computer in Brazil, the Brazilian Ministry of Science and Technology, and the Brazilian Academy of Sciences. In 2007, Lua featured in HOPL III, the Third ACM SIGPLAN History of Programming Languages Conference. Lua won the Front Line Award 2011 from Game Developers Magazine in the category Programming Tools. In 2017, Lua featured in the "Inovanças – Creations Brazilian style" exhibition at the Museum of Tomorrow in Rio. Read the catalog and watch the video. In 2022, Lua received the Pedro Ernesto Medal, the highest decoration given by the city of Rio de Janeiro.