Historical orders, decorations, and medals of France
This page is a list of the orders of chivalry and orders of merit awarded by France, in the order they were established or incorporated in France, and their origins.
Order of the Temple, also known as the Templars, set up in Jerusalem by 7 French knights in 1118. The Order had its headquarters in Paris but was so spread across Europe it cannot be accounted a solely French order
Order of Military Merit also Institution du Military Merit
Order of the Rose 1780
On January 1, 1791, the Order of Saint Louis and the Order of Military Merit were merged into the Military Decoration by the Convention, the revolutionary parliament.
French First Republic (1793–1804)
abolished all chivalric orders of the monarchy in 1793. There were nevertheless decorations such as medals and Weapons of Honour.
The Legion of Honour was not, strictly speaking, a chivalric order at the time of its institution, since Napoleon did not like knighthood orders and the Legion of Honour had to be a "real" legion with legionaries, officers and commanders. Nevertheless, at the time of its institution, the Legion of Honour had all the hallmarks of a chivalric order except the name.
French First Empire (1804–1814, 1815)
Legion of Honour
Order of the Iron Crown
Order of the Reunion
Kingdom of France, Bourbon Restoration (1814, 1815–1830)
Order of Saint Michael
Order of the Holy Spirit
United Order of Our Lady of Mount Carmel and Saint Lazarus 1608
Royal and Military Order of Saint Louis
Order of the Academic Palms
Order of the Saint Sepulchre in Jerusalem
Décoration du Lys 1814
Decoration of the Armband of Bordeaux
Legion of Honour
Hunting Order of St. Hubert
Décoration de la Fidélité
Kingdom of France, July Monarchy (1830–1848)
Legion of Honour from 1830 the first in rank among French decorations and knighthood orders.
Order of the Cross of July,, established in 1830 by the "Bourgeois King" Louis Philippe I.
The French Republic possessed in Asia, Africa and America a large colonial empire. For the purposes of this huge area, a number of "Colonial orders of knighthood" were established or incorporated. They were :
In addition, the Governor-General of French Indo-China established in 1900 :
Order of the Merit of Indochina.
France had also not enough in the fatherland with the Legion of Honor. The various ministries therefore proposed that they themselves managed and issued orders to:
which was renamed in 1961 "Order of the Commercial and Industrial Merit". In 1940, a French government was formed in exile. They suggested a knighthood order as:
Order of Liberation established in 1940 by Charles de Gaulle in London.
The France-remaining government of Marshal Philippe Pétain, the so-called "Vichy government", proposed 2 knighthood orders:
The Fourth Republic knew a very large quantity of knighthood orders and decorations. There were in 1945 16 knighthood orders. The traditional position of the Legion of Honour as highest and most prominent award remained formally intact but the French ministers founded for use in homeland and overseas no less than 11 new orders.
Legion of Honour 1802
Order of Liberation 1940
The French ministries kept on establishing Ministerial Orders so there were finally 19 :
Order of the Public Instruction, 1866; renamed in 1955 to Ordre des Palmes Académiques
Order of Agricultural Merit 1883
Order of Maritime Merit 1930
Order of the Social Merit 1936
Order of Public Health 1938
Order of the Commercial Merit 1939
Order of the Artisanal Merit 1948
Order of the Touristic Merit 1949
Order of the Postal Merit 1953
Order of the Warrior Merit 1953
Order of National Economy 1954
Order of the Sportive Merit 1956
Order of the Labour Merit 1957
Order of the Military Merit 1957
Order of the Civil Merit 1957
Order of Arts and Letters) 1957
Order of the Saharian Merit 1958
The French Republic knew following a decree of 1 September 1950 two "Orders of Overseas France" :
Order of the Black Star 1889
Order of the Star of Anjouan 1874
The two Orders were a heritage of the colonial time during which the decorations of the colonized states such as Dahomey and the Comores were included in the French orders system. The French government awarded the Order of the Black Star in Europe until 1 January 1964. The decolonisation and restructuring of the French colonial empire, one speaks now of the "French Union", made necessary other adaptations in the French knighthood orders. Three other colonial Orders incorporated in it since 1896, namely the Royal Order of Cambodia, the Order of the Dragon of Annam and the Order of Nichan El-Anouar became therefore on 1 September 1950 "Orders of Associated States of the French Union". The French government didn't award these honors themselves anymore. In 1963 the granting of the two French Overseas Orders were also discontinued. In their place, the new "National Order of Merit" was awarded. This Order replaced fifteen of the ministerial orders so that a much clearer decoration policy became possible.
The 19 Ministerial Orders - which all knew three grades Commander, Officer and Knight - were each administered by a Board which was chaired by the relevant Minister. The fragmentation of the honors system was perceived as malpractice because a clear policy was not possible.
Fifteen of these orders were abolished by the first president of the Fifth Republic, Charles de Gaulle on 1 January 1964 and were replaced by the National Order of Merit but the three following were kept:
