French foreign legion

French Foreign Legion Légion étrangère
The Foreign Legion grenade emblem and colours.
Active	10 March 1831 – present
Country	France
Branch	French Army
Type	Foreign legion
Role	Foreign Infantry, Foreign airborne infantry, Foreign armoured cavalry, Foreign combat engineer, Foreign airborne engineer, Regimental Foreign military police
Size	c. 7,700 men in eleven regiments and one sub-unit
Garrison/HQ	Foreign Legion Command Mainland France 1st Foreign Regiment Foreign Legion Pionniers 4th Foreign Regiment Foreign Legion Recruiting Group 1st Foreign Cavalry Regiment 1st Foreign Engineer Regiment 2nd Foreign Infantry Regiment 2nd Foreign Engineer Regiment Haute-Corse 2nd Foreign Parachute Regiment French Guiana 3rd Foreign Infantry Regiment United Arab Emirates 13th Demi-Brigade of the Foreign Legion Mayotte Foreign Legion Detachment in Mayotte
Nickname(s)	The Legion (English) La Légion (French)
Motto(s)	Legio Patria Nostra (The Legion is our Fatherland) Honneur et Fidélité (Honour and Fidelity) Marche ou crève (March or die, unofficial)
Colours	Red and Green
March	Le Boudin
Anniversaries	Camerone Day (30 April)
Engagements	French conquest of Algeria First Carlist War Second Deployment to Algeria Crimean War Second Italian War of Independence French intervention in Mexico French campaign against Korea Franco-Prussian War Sino-French War Second Franco-Dahomean War Second Madagascar expedition Mandingo Wars World War I Rif War World War II Syria–Lebanon Campaign First Indochina War Algerian War Shaba II Lebanese Civil War 1975–1990 United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (1978–present) Multinational Force in Lebanon 1982–1984 Gulf War Global War on Terrorism (2001–present) War in Afghanistan (1978–present) Operation Enduring Freedom War in Afghanistan First Ivorian Civil War Second Ivorian Civil War Northern Mali conflict Central African Republic conflict (2012–present)
Commanders
Current commander	C.O.M.L.E. Division General
Capitaine Jean Danjou (French) Captain Jean Danjou (English)	Foreign Legion Pionniers
Notable commanders	Le Père Légion (French) Général Paul-Frédéric Rollet (French) The Father of the Legion (English) General Paul-Frédéric Rollet (English)
Insignia
Identification symbol
Legion flash
Abbreviation	FFL (English) LE (French)

Foreign Legion Command
Mainland France

Haute-Corse

French Guiana

United Arab Emirates

Mayotte

Legio Patria Nostra (The Legion is our Fatherland)
Honneur et Fidélité (Honour and Fidelity)

Le Père Légion (French)
Général Paul-Frédéric Rollet (French)
The Father of the Legion (English)

The French Foreign Legion (FFL; French: Légion Étrangère (French pronunciation: ​[leʒjɔ̃ etʁɑ̃ʒɛʁ]), L.É.) is a military service branch of the French Army established in 1831, unique because it was created for foreign nationals willing to serve in the French Armed Forces.

Commanded by French officers, it is also open to French citizens, who amounted to 24% of the recruits in 2007. The Foreign Legion is today known as a unit whose training focuses not only on traditional military skills but also on its strong esprit de corps as its men come from different countries with different cultures. This is a way to strengthen them enough to work as a team. Although it is part of the French Military, it is the only unit of the military that does not swear allegiance to France, but to the Foreign Legion itself. Consequently, training is often described as not only physically challenging, but also very stressful psychologically. French citizenship may be applied for after three years' service. Additionally, any soldier who becomes injured during a battle for France immediately becomes a French citizen under a provision known as "Français par le sang versé" ("French by spilled blood"). As of 2008, members come from 140 countries.