What is the Legion of Honor?

La Légion d’Honneur The French Legion of Honor

The Highest French Distinction

The French Legion of Honor was created to reward eminent military and civil merits in the service of France. It is the highest distinction that can be conferred in France on a French citizen as well as on a foreigner.

Origin

Napoléon Bonaparte, First Consul of the First Republic, first established the French Legion of Honor in 1802.

Grades and Ranks

The Legion of Honor is divided into fives degrees.

The degrees are divided as follow:

• Three ranks: Chevalier (Knight), Officier (Officer), Commandeur (Commander)
• Two dignities: Grand Officier (Grand Officer) and Grand Croix (Grand Cross)

Description of the Insignia

Since its inception, the medal consists of a five-armed “Maltese Asterisk” enameled in white, joined with branches of laurel and oak.

• At the center of the star, there is a medallion representing:

• In the front side, the symbol of the Republic with the inscription “Républiquefrançaise”
  on the other side, a flag and a banner intertwining one another with the circular inscription “Honneur et patrie”

The ribbon is in red moiré silk.

Organization of the Order

The President of the French Republic is the Grand Master of the Order and appoints all other members of the Order—by convention, on the advice of the Government. Its principal officers are the Chancellor and Secretary-General.

A chancery and a council of the order manage the order. They are located in Paris:

In the United States, the American Society of the French Legion of Honor, Inc., that gathers all the recipients of the award, is presided by

Personalities awarded

Famous French historical personalities awarded:

Claude Berthollet (chimiste), Honoré de Balzac, Stendhal, Victor Hugo, François-René de Chateaubriand, Théophile Gaultier, Alfred de Musset, Alexandre Dumas, Hector Berlioz, Georges Cuvier, Eugène Delacroix.

American personalities awarded:

Thomas A. Edison (Commander in 1889), Alexander Graham Bell (Officer in 1881), Simon Newcomb (Officer in 1896), John Singer Sargent (Knight in 1889).