The Museum of the Legion of Honor and the Orders of Chivalry offers a unique voyage through time and culture thanks to its 5.000 art objects and decorations from around the world.
The museum’s mission
Unique in the world
The museum is dedicated to the orders of chivalry, decorations and medals – whose study is called “phaleristics” – and embraces all French and foreign honors from the Middle Ages to the present.
Its rich collections showcasing the Legion of Honor, its exceptional artifacts and its original way of tracing the course of history make it a one-of-a-kind museum.
A museum for everyone
Through its triple dimension – historical, sociological and artistic – the Museum of the Legion of Honor is destined to appeal to a broad audience: people who love beautiful objects, history buffs, admirers of the Legion of Honor and the First Empire, and phalerists as well as tourists who are curious to discover the treasures of a French institution.
History of the museum
Opened in the aftermath of the First World War, the Museum of the Legion of Honour and Orders of Chivalry was conceived as a sanctuary in tribute to the French and foreign individuals affected by the conflict. Expanded and redesigned over time, it has become a global reference in the field of honors and decorations.
Learn more about the museum's history
The visit
The visit of the museum is orchestrated around five areas that take visitors from the birth of the chivalric orders in the period of the crusades up to the creation of the National Order of Merit by general de Gaulle in 1963, including the royal orders and the Legion of Honor. The foreign orders room, a true cabinet of curiosities, showcases insignia from the entire world.
Honor, merit and civiscim, the values upheld by the national orders, are highlighted by the examples of emblematic men and women and the insignia that punctuate their paths in life. Video stations complete the evocation, illustrating these outstanding destinies.
After a brief introduction to the museum's history and its buildings, the visit is organized around five spaces showcasing insignias, paintings,weapongs, costumes, documents, etc
- Religious and Military Chivalric Orders: Order of Saint John of Jerusalem (also known as the Order of Malta), Teutonic Order, Order of the Holy Sepulchre…
- Royal Orders: Order of Saint Michael, Order of the Holy Spirit, Order of Saint Louis, Institution of Military Merit…
- Legion of Honour : Weapons of reward and honor, Legion of Honour, Orders of the Iron Crown and of the Reunion, Orders of the Emperor’s brothers…
- Mario Spada Hall, dedicated to foreign Orders: Over 400 orders and decorations from 122 former or current states
- Contemporary Hall: Decorations from the Revolution, the Restoration, the Second Empire (Military Medal and commemorative medals), the two World Wars… The exhibition concludes with honor medals, colonial and ministerial orders, the National Order of Merit, and the National Medal of Recognition for Victims of Terrorism.
France
Discover the history of the French decorations and orders thanks to a timeline spanning from the Middle Ages to the present day.
World
Around the world, nations has etablished distinctions that which relfet their history and their culture. Go on a journey !