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Commandant of the Legion

National Order of the Legion of Honour
French: Légion d'honneur
Chevalier légion d'honneur 2.png
Chevalier (Knight) medal insignia.
Awarded by France
Type Order of merit
Established 19 May 1802; 215 years ago (1802-05-19)
Motto Honneur et patrie ("Honour and Fatherland")
Awarded for
Excellent civil or military conduct
delivered, upon official investigation
Founder Napoleon Bonaparte
Grand Master President of France
Grand chancelier Benoît Puga
Secretary-General Luc Fons
Classes
  • 00,0  1  Grand Maître
  • 00,067  Grand(s)-Croix
  • 00,314  Grand Officier(s)
  • 03,009  Commandeur(s)
  • 17,032  Officier(s)
  • 74,384  Chevalier(s; plural form)
Statistics
First induction 14 July 1804
Precedence
Next (higher) None
Next (lower)
  • NOLH Streamer.JPG
    Order's streamer
  • Legion Honneur GC ribbon.svg
    Grand-Croix
  • Legion Honneur GO ribbon.svg
    Grand Officier
  • Legion Honneur Commandeur ribbon.svg
    Commandeur
  • Legion Honneur Officier ribbon.svg
    Officier
  • Legion Honneur Chevalier ribbon.svg
    Chevalier

Ribbon bars of the order

The Legion of Honour, full name, National Order of the Legion of Honour (French: Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur), is the highest French order of merit for military and civil merits, established in 1802 by Napoléon Bonaparte.

The order's motto is "Honneur et Patrie" ("Honour and Fatherland") and its seat is the Palais de la Légion d'Honneur next to the Musée d'Orsay, on the left bank of the River Seine in Paris.

The order is divided into five degrees of increasing distinction: Chevalier (Knight), Officier (Officer), Commandeur (Commander), Grand Officier (Grand Officer) and Grand-Croix (Grand Cross).

In the French Revolution, all of the French orders of chivalry were abolished, and replaced with Weapons of Honour. It was the wish of Napoleon Bonaparte, the First Consul, to create a reward to commend civilians and soldiers and from this wish was instituted a Légion d'Honneur, a body of men that was not an order of chivalry, for Napoleon believed France wanted a recognition of merit rather than a new system of nobility. The Légion however did use the organization of old French orders of chivalry for example the Ordre de Saint-Louis. The badges of the legion also bear a resemblance to the Ordre de Saint-Louis, which also used a red ribbon.


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