Honorary Freemen
Honorary Freemen were inaugurated from 1912 under the The Honorary Freedom of Boroughs Act 1885 but subsequently under the Local Government Acts 1933, 1972 as amended.
| 1912 | Sir John Williams, 1st Baronet, of the City of London, first President of the National Library, President of the University College of Wales, Aberystwyth |
| 1912 | Lord David Davies, 1st Baron Davies, former M.P., politician and public benefactor |
| 1912 | Lord Stuart Rendel, 1st Baron Rendel, former M.P., politician and public benefactor, President of the University College of Wales, Aberystwyth |
| 1922 | David Lloyd George, Prime Minister of Great Britain and Ireland |
| 1923 | Lt.-Col. Lewis Pugh Evans, Victoria Cross (4 October 1917 near Zonnebeke, Belgium) |
| 1923 | Matthew Vaughan-Davies, Lord Ystwyth (1st Baron Ystwyth), former M.P. for Cardiganshire |
| 1923 | Sir Herbert Lewis, former M.P. for the University of Wales and a founder of the National Library of Wales |
| 1928 | Stanley Baldwin, Prime Minister of Great Britain and Ireland |
| 1936 | Sir David Charles Roberts, High Sheriff of the County of Cardigan |
| 1936 | Lord Ernest Edmund Henry Malet Vaughan, 7th Earl of Lisburne, High Sheriff of the County of Cardigan, Lord Lieutenant of the County of Cardigan |
| 1951 | Sir Winston Churchill, Prime Minister of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (pictured with award) |
| 1955 | The Regiment of the Welsh Guards |
| 1965 | Sir David James, Pantyfedwen, philanthropist and benefactor |
| 2011 | Herr Fritz Pratschke, Krönberg, for over 40 years' contribution to twinning |
| 2015 | Monsieur Jean Guezennec, St Brieuc, for over 40 years' contribution to twinning |
Other names were also suggested as possible freemen, notably Bing Crosby and Bob Hope in 1952. In 1969, the Prince of Wales declined the Council's offer of the Freedom of the Borough because he was here as a student and wished to be treated as such: the Council would not normally give the Freedom to a student.