Légion d'honneur

The Légion d'honneur French, translatable as "Legion of Honor/Honour", but known as the Légion d'honneur to avoid confusion with similarly-named decorations (e.g. the Philippine Legion of Honor). (officially Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur) is a French order of chivalry established by Napoléon Bonaparte, First Consul of the French Republic, on May 19, 1802. It is the premier order of France, and its award is therefore considered a great distinction. The order's motto is ("Honour and motherland"). Its seat is the Palais de la Légion d'honneur in Paris.

Classes

The order has five classes:

Grand-Croix	(Grand Cross)	Formerly grande décoration, grand aigle or grand cordon.
Grand Officier	(Grand Officer)
Commandeur	(Commander)	Formerly commandant.
Officier	(Officer)
Chevalier	(Knight)	Formerly légionnaire.

History

The Légion in the Republic

In the French Revolution all the Orders of the kingdom were abolished. Napoleon, the First Consul felt the need for a reward to commend both civilians and soldiers and instituted a Légion d'Honneur, a body of men (women were first allowed in the legion in 1852 by President Napoleon Bonaparte, the later Napoleon III ) that was not an order of chivalry. The Légion did and does however show all the characteristics of an Order of Chivalry. Napoleon, in 1802 still a revolutionary, loathed orders of knighthood.

The Légion was loosely patterned after a Roman Legion, with légionnaires (soldiers) officers, commandants and a grand council; and the Emperor angrily rebuked anyone who called this institution an order. The highest rank was not a grand cross but a grand aigle, a rank that wore all the insignia common to grand crosses. The members were paid, the highest of them extremely generously:

5,000 francs to a grand officier,
2,000 francs to a commandant,
1,000 francs to an officier,
And 250 francs to a légionnaire.

The decoration replaced the old Orders of Saint Michael, The Holy Spirit, Saint Louis, Saint Lazarus and Mount Carmel.

According to some sources, Napoleon declared: ' — "We call these children's toys, I know, it's been said already. Well, I replied that it's with such toys that one leads men." (The French word ' means a child's rattle). This has been often quoted as "It is with such baubles that men are led."

The order was the first modern order of merit. The orders of the monarchy were often limited to Catholics and all knights had to be noblemen. The military decorations were the perk of the officers. The légion, however, was open to men of all ranks and professions. Only merit or bravery counted.

It is noteworthy that all previous orders were crosses or shared a clear Christian background, whereas the Légion is a secular institution. The jewel of the legion has five arms.

The Légion in the Empire

In a decree issued on the 10th Pluviose XIII (30 January 1805) a grand decoration was instituted. This decoration, a cross on a large sash and a silver star with an eagle became known as the Grand Aigle, and later in 1814 as the grand cordon ().

Napoleon had dispensed 15 golden collars of the legion among his kinsmen and the highest of his ministers. This collar was abolished in 1815.

Although research is made difficult by the loss of the archives, it is known that three women who fought with the army were decorated with the order: Anne Biget (a nun), Virginie Ghesquière, and Marie-Jeanne Schelling.

The Légion d'honneur was prominent and visible in the empire. The Emperor always wore it and the fashion of the time allowed for decorations to be worn most of the time. The king of Sweden therefore refused the order; it was too common in his eyes. Napoleon's own decorations were captured by the Prussians and were displayed in the Zeughaus (arms repository) in Berlin till 1945. Today, they are in Moscow.

The Restoration of the Bourbon Kings in 1814

In 1816 the grand eagles were renamed grand crosses and the legionaires became knights. The king decreed that the commandants were now commanders. The legion was the second order of knighthood of the French monarchy, after the Order of the Holy Spirit.

King Louis XVIII changed the appearance of the order, but it was not abolished. This would have angered the 35-38,000 members. The images of Napoleon and his eagle were removed and replaced by the image of Henri IV, the popular first king of the Bourbon line. Three Bourbon Lillies replaced the eagle on the reverse of the order. A king's crown replaced the imperial crown. Because of the restitution of the orders of the old monarchy, the Légion was now just one of the orders of knighthood.

The Légion in the July-monarchy

France's first constitutional monarch, King Louis-Phillipe of the House of Orleans restored the order of the Légion d'honneur in 1830 as the paramount decoration of the French Nation. The insignia were drastically altered. The cross now displayed tricolor flags. Louis Philippe abolished the other orders of the monarchy. In 1847 there were 47,000 members.

The Légion in the Second Republic

Yet another revolt in Paris (1848) brought a new republic and a new design to the Légion d'honneur.

A nephew of the founder, Prince Napoleon was elected president and he restored the image of his uncle on the crosses of the order. In 1852 the first woman , an old revolutionary of the 1789 uprising against the absolute monarchy, was admitted into the order. A true Bonaparte, President Napoleon staged a coup d'état and made himself emperor of the French in 1852.

The Légion in the Second Empire

An Imperial crown was added. During Napoleon III's reign the first American was admitted — Dr. Thomas Wiltberger Evans, dentist of Napoleon III. Angélique Duchemin was the first documented female knight.

The Légion in the Third Republic

In 1870, a revolt and a smashing defeat of the army in the Franco-Prussian war brought another republic. As France changed , the Légion d'honneur changed to. The crown was replaced by a laurel an oak wreath. In 1870, the order's palace, the Hotel de Salm, was burned to the ground in street fights; the archives of the order were lost.

During the First World War some 55,000 decorations were conferred, 20,000 of them to foreigners.

Current organization and officers

The President of France is the Grand Master of the Order and appoints all other members of the Order — by convention, on the advice of the Government. Following Continental practice (unlike the British orders), the Légion d'honneur has no Sovereign. Its principal officers are the Chancellor and Secretary-General.

Current officers of the Order include:

Grand Master: Jacques Chirac
Grand Chancellor: Jean-Pierre Kelche
Secretary-General: Jacques Carrère

Frenchmen are always received in the order to the class of knight. To be promoted to a higher class, one must prove new services to France and a set number of years must pass between appointment and promotion. The only exception is the President of the Republic, who is made a grand cross de jure upon his accession to the presidency. Foreigners are not received in the order; instead they are decorated with the insignia of the légion. A foreigner can be decorated directly with the insignia of a higher class. Foreign Heads of State and the wives or consorts of monarchs are made grand cross as a courtesy.

The order is conferred upon men and women, either French citizens or foreigners, for outstanding achievements in military or civil life. In practice, in current usage, the order is conferred, in addition to military recipients, to many entrepreneurs, high-level civil servants, sport champions as well as other people with high connections in the executive.

"Eminent merit" results in admission in the legion and "distinguished merit" is rewarded with the National Order of Merit. The Légion is not awarded to active politicians and ministers are not permitted to nominate their accountants.

The Order has a maximum quota of 75 Grand Cross, 250 Grand Officers, 1,250 Commanders, 10,000 Officers and 113,425 (ordinary) Knights. As of 2000 the actual membership was 61 Grand Cross, 321 Grand Officers, 3,626 Commanders, 22,401 Officers and 87,371 Knights.

It is a popular joke that half of France wants the order and the other half already owns it, but in reality most people have to content themselves with the less prestigious "National Order of Merit".

Appointments of veterans of World War II, French military personnel involved in the North African Campaign and other foreign French military operations, as well as wounded soldiers, are made independently of the quota.

In 1998, all surviving veterans of World War I from any allied country who had fought on French soil were made Knights of the Légion if they were not so already, as part of the commemoration of the 80th anniversary of the war's end. In December 2004, on the occasion of his 110th birthday, France's oldest surviving veteran of the war, Franklin Flocquet, was promoted to Officer.

Members convicted of a severe crime (plain crime in French) are dismissed de jure from the order. Members convicted of a lesser felony (délit in French) can be dismissed too.

Wearing the decoration of the Légion d'honneur without having the right to do so is an offense. Wearing the ribbon or rosette of a foreign order of knighthood is prohibited if that ribbon is mainly red, like the ribbon of the Légion.

Collective appointments can also be made to cities, institutions, companies or military units. In the case of a military unit, its flag is decorated with the insignia of a knight, which is a different award than the fourragère. Cities proudly display the decoration in their crest of arms.

21 schools were awarded the Légion d'honneur. They share this distinction with the Red Cross, the abbey of Our Lady of Dombes and the state-railway company SNCF.

Insignia

The badge of the Légion is a five-armed 'Maltese Asterisk' (for want of a better description — see Maltese Cross) in gilt (in silver for chevalier) enameled white, with an enameled laurel and oak wreath between the arms. The obverse central disc is in gilt, featuring the head of Marianne, surrounded by the legend République Française on a blue enamel ring. The reverse central disc is also in gilt, with a set of crossed tricolore, surrounded by the Légion's motto Honneur et patrie (Honour and motherland) and its foundation date on a blue enamel ring. The badge is suspended by an enameled laurel and oak wreath.

The star (or "plaque") is worn by Grand Cross (in gilt on the left chest) and Grand Officer (in silver on the right chest) respectively; it is similar to the badge, but without enamel, and with the wreath replaced by a cluster of rays in between each arm. The central disc features the head of Marianne, surrounded by the legend République Française and the motto Honneur et patrie.

The ribbon for the badge is plain red.

In summary,

Grand Cross - wears the badge on a sash on the right shoulder, plus the star on the left chest;
Grand Officer - wears the badge on a ribbon with rosette on the left chest, plus the star on the right chest;
Commander - wears the badge on a necklet;
Officer - wears the badge on a ribbon with rosette on the left chest;
Knight - wears the badge on a ribbon on the left chest.

The badge or star is not worn usually, except at the time of the decoration ceremony or on a dress uniform. Instead, one normally wears the ribbon or rosette on one's suit.

Image:Chevalier-legion-dhonneur-empire-1804.jpg|Original Légionnaire insignia (1804). Image:Chevalier-legion-dhonneur-empire.jpg|Late Empire Légionnaire insignia: the front feature Napoleon's profile and the rear, the imperial Eagle. An imperial crown joins the cross and the ribbon. Image:Chevalier-legion-dhonneur-LouisXVIII-1814.jpg|Louis XVIII era (1814) Knight insignia: the front features Henry IV's profile and the rear, the arms of the French Kingdom (three fleurs de lis). A royal crown joins the cross and the ribbon. Image:Chevalier-legion-dhonneur-2e-republique.jpg|Rear of a Republican cross, with two crossed French flags. Image:Chevalier-legion-dhonneur-republique.jpg|Fifth Republic Knight insignia: the centre features Marianne's head. A crown of laurels joins the cross and the ribbon. Image:PortLegHon.gif|The five classes wearing their respective insignia (gentlemen).

The Order and other countries

United Kingdom

Queen Elizabeth II, Prince Philip, Lord Mountbatten and Winston Churchill have all been decorated with the Grand Cross.

United States

In the U.S., General Eisenhower is among the 10,000 Americans who have received the decoration. In 1949 the Academies of West Point and Annapolis were also decorated. It is rare for an ambassador in Paris to be awarded the Légion d'honneur; a posthumous exception was made for the formidable and popular Mrs. Harriman in 1997.

Locations associated with the Order

A grand total of 68 cities and villages, amongst them Liège in 1914, Belgrade in 1920, Luxembourg in 1957 and Stalingrad in 1984 were decorated. So were 51 regiments and the Military school of Autun.

The Order has its own boarding schools in Saint Dennis and Loges. A thousand children and grand-children of the members of the order are educated there.

The order's seat at the Palais de la Légion d'honneur is on the Left Bank of the River Seine in Paris.

Notes

External links

1802 establishments | Civil decorations of France | Légion d'honneur recipients | Military decorations | Orders of knighthood of France

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