Napoleon admitted his Legion of Honour ran on baubles, and he was right
When critics sneered that his new decorations were trinkets, Napoleon replied that trinkets are exactly how you lead men: soldiers want glory, not arguments. His Legion of Honour, founded in 1802, broke with centuries of tradition by rewarding merit from any rank or trade, and France still awards it today.
The Revolution had abolished every French order of chivalry, replacing them with ceremonial weapons of honour. As First Consul, Napoleon wanted a way to reward both civilians and soldiers without reviving a nobility, so he created a legion rather than an order, loosely modelled on the Roman kind with regional cohorts and a grand council. It borrowed the structure and the red ribbon of the old royal Order of Saint Louis. Its members were paid, some lavishly, and the honour doubled as a tool for securing political loyalty.
What made it radical was access. Royal orders had typically demanded noble birth, Catholic faith or an officer's commission. The Legion was secular and open to men of every rank and profession on merit or courage alone; only Sweden's Order of Vasa had done something similar before it. Legend has it that after a battle Napoleon would ask a regiment to name its bravest man, then unpin his own cross and fix it to the soldier's chest. Three women who fought with the army, including a nun, Sister Anne Biget, are rumoured to have received it, though lost archives make that hard to confirm.
The empire added layers. A Grand Eagle sash was created in 1805, renamed Grand Cordon in 1814, and after 1808 members could style themselves Knights of the Empire, a title that became hereditary after three generations. Napoleon handed out 15 gold collars to relatives and senior ministers; they were abolished in 1815.
Every regime since has kept the order, with minor tweaks. Its five grades rise from Chevalier through Officier, Commandeur and Grand officier to Grand-croix, under the motto Honour and Fatherland, and its headquarters sits beside the Musée d'Orsay in Paris. It has not always been awarded wisely: Manuel Noriega's decoration was revoked in 2010 after a money-laundering conviction, and Albert Camus and Jean-Paul Sartre both turned it down.
Source: Legion of Honour
