National Order of Merit (France)

National Order of Merit
Insignia of a Knight of the National Order of Merit
Awarded by  France
Type	Order of merit
Classes	Five degrees
Awarded for	Distinguished civil and military achievements
Status	Active
Grand Master	President of the French Republic
Statistics
Established	3 December 1963
Precedence
Next (higher)	Military Medal
Next (lower)	National Recognition Medal for Victims of Terrorism
Ribbon of a Knight of the order

The National Order of Merit (French: Ordre national du Mérite) is a French order of merit with membership awarded by the President of the French Republic, founded on 3 December 1963 by President Charles de Gaulle. The reason for the order’s establishment was twofold: to replace the large number of ministerial orders previously awarded by the ministries; and to create an award that can be awarded at a lower level than the Legion of Honour, which is generally reserved for French citizens. It comprises about 187,000 members worldwide.

The National Order of Merit replaced the following ministerial and colonial orders:

French citizens as well as foreign nationals, men and women, can be received into the order for distinguished military or civil achievements, though of a lesser level than that required for the award of the Legion of Honour. The President of the French Republic is the Grand Master of the order and appoints all its members by convention on the advice of the Government of France. The order has a common Chancellor and Chancery with the Legion of Honour. Every Prime Minister of France is made a Grand cross of the order after 24 months of service.

The Order has five classes, the same as the Légion d’honneur:

The medal and the plaque of the Order were designed by the French sculptor Max Leognany.

The individuals listed below have been admitted as members of the National Order of Merit:

Sources