Musée de la Légion d'honneur et des ordres de chevalerie

Having opened immediately after the First World War, in honour of those from France and elsewhere who endured the conflict, the Musée de la Légion d’Honneur et des Ordres de Chevalerie has, over time, become one of the world’s leading authorities when it comes to military medals and decorations.

Based in one wing of the Hôtel de Salm, an 18th-century neoclassical palace just a stone’s throw from the Musée d’Orsay, the museum boasts a collection of nearly 5,000 objects d’art and insignias, which, in their geopolitical context, retrace the history of French and foreign distinctions from the Middle Ages to the 21st century. From the time of the crusades, to the creation of the National Medal Recognising Victims of Terrorism, to foreign orders from over 120 states across the world, the museum explains the very concept of orders, the values they embody and the merits of the men and women admitted to them.

The Légion d’Honneur: a first-rate distinction

A host of Napoleonic memories, including the grand collier (collar) of Emperor Napoleon I, a fundamental piece of the museum’s collection, remind us that it was Napoleon Bonaparte, First Consul at the time, who was behind the creation of the Légion d’Honneur in 1802. Worn by the greatest dignitaries of the National Order of the Legion of Honour, the grand collier has, since the Second Empire, been the defining sign of the Grand Master of the Order, the Head of State – once the emperor, now the President of the Republic – who receives it on the day of his inauguration.

Your exploration of french history continues in the museums and cultural sites on Paris Region.