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Legion of Honour Facts for Kids. Kiddle Encyclopedia.
| National Order of the Legion of Honour Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur |
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|---|---|
 Officier medal of the French Légion d'honneur |
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| Awarded by France | |
| Type | Order with five degrees |
| Awarded for | Excellent civil or military conduct delivered, upon official investigation |
| Status | Open since 1802 |
| Statistics | |
| Established | 19 May 1802 |
| First awarded | 14 July 1804 |
| Distinct recipients |
Knight: 74,384 Officer: 17,032 Commander: 3,009 Grand Officer: 314 Grand Cross: 67 |
| Precedence | |
| Next (higher) | None |
| Next (lower) | Ordre de la Libération |
 Grand'croix
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The Legion of Honour (French: Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur) is the highest French award.
It was established by Napoleon Bonaparte on 19 May 1802.
The Order is the highest decoration in France and is divided into five degrees: Chevalier (Knight), Officier (Officer), Commandeur (Commander), Grand Officier (Grand Officer) and Grand Croix (Grand Cross).
The order's motto is Honneur et Patrie ('Honour and Country'), and its seat is the Palais de la Légion d'Honneur on the left bank of the River Seine in Paris.
Images for kids
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Louis Philippe I, King of the French, wearing the sash of the order
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François Hollande, Grand Master of the Legion since 2012, wearing the gold and red insignia of a Grand Cross.
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Rear of a Republican cross, with two crossed French flags.
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Fifth Republic Knight insignia: the centre features Marianne's head. A crown of laurels joins the cross and the ribbon.
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The insignia of a Grand Cross. Nowadays the star of a Grand Cross is gilt. The silver star is the Grand Officer's badge.
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Charles Lindbergh's Legion of Honour
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Insignia with figure of Henry IV
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Certificate
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Commander of the Order of the Legion of Honour
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A depiction of Napoleon making some of the first awards of the Legion of Honour, at a camp near Boulogne on 16 August 1804.
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As Emperor, Napoleon always wore the Cross and Grand Eagle of the Legion of Honour.
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Embroided insignia of the Legion of Honour, detail of Napoleon's uniform of colonel of the Chasseurs à cheval of the Imperial Guard.