Médaille de la Famille française

La médaille d'honneur de la Famille française
Bronze, silver, and gold medals
Awarded by  France
Type	Medal with 3 classes
Eligibility	Parents
Awarded for	Raising multiple children with dignity
Statistics
Established	26 May 1920
Precedence
Next (higher)	Médaille de la Jeunesse et des Sports
Gold Silver Bronze

The Médaille de la Famille française (English: Medal of the French Family) is a decoration awarded by the government of France to honour those who have successfully raised several children with dignity.

The decoration was created by a decree of May 26, 1920, under the name Médaille d'honneur de la famille française (Medal of Honour of the French Family) with the aim of honouring mothers of large families. The text of the decree underwent several changes before being completely reformed by a decree of October 28, 1982, which renamed the decoration Médaille de la Famille française (Medal of the French Family). This decree came into force on January 1, 1983, and was completed by an arrêté (administrative order) of March 15, 1983. The reform opened the award of the decoration to fathers or anyone else who had raised several children in an appropriate way: for example, the Catholic priest Père Mayotte, curate of the parish of Randan, Puy-de-Dôme was granted the award in recognition of his raising the six children of his housekeeper, a widow who died suddenly.

Three classes of medal exist: bronze for those raising four or five children, silver for parents of six or seven children, and gold for those with eight or more children. A bronze medal is also granted to widowed mothers of three children whose husbands have been killed in action. The recipient's eldest child must be at least sixteen years old. The medal is decorated with the words "Famille Française" ("French Family") and a modernistic image of a and their children. The words "République Française" ("French Republic") are inscribed on the reverse side. The ribbon is divided vertically into three equal parts, the outer two being red and the inner green. Recipients of silver and gold medals are also granted a rosette in the same colours.