I'm sure it won't be what you hoped for, but here goes. The official Qt answer is here
http://qt-project.org/doc/qt-5/appicon.html
Step 1: Install a 48x48 icon in the hicolor theme. This means copying a PNG file to /usr/share/icons/hicolor/48x48/apps. Optionally you can install icons in different sizes. For example, copying a svg icon in /usr/share/icons/hicolor/scalable/apps means most desktops will have one icon that works for all sizes.
It is recommended that the icons installed in the hicolor theme look neutral, since it is a fallback theme that will be used in combination with some very different looking themes. But if you don't have any neutral icon, then install whatever icon you have in the hicolor theme so that all applications get at least some icon in all themes.
Step 2: Create a text .desktop file in /usr/share/applications/ to tell gnome about your application. This will allow your application to be found via the gnome menu with appropriate icon BUT when browsing in nautilus/files the executable will still not show using your icon.
The /usr/share/applications/myapp.desktop file should contain something like:
[Desktop Entry]
Encoding=UTF-8
Type=Application
Name=MyAppName
Comment=My very special application description
Exec=/use/bin/myapp
Icon=/usr/share/icons/hicolor/scalable/apps/myapp.svg
Terminal=false
Categories=GNOME;Application;
StartupNotify=true