French Foreign Legion

French Foreign Legion
Légion étrangère
The Foreign Legion's grenade emblem
Active10 March 1831 – present
Country France
Branch French Army
TypeAssault troops
Light Infantry
Foreign legion
RoleLand warfare
Expeditionary warfare
Airborne forces
Special Operations Capable
Size9,000 soldiers
Nickname(s)La Légion
"The Legion"
PatronSaint Anthony[1]
Motto(s)Honneur et Fidélité
Legio Patria Nostra[2]
Branch colours

Colour of Beret
Red and Green

  Green[3][4]
MarchLe Boudin[5]
AnniversariesCamerone Day (30 April)
Engagements
Websitelegion-etrangere.com (official website)
legion-recrute.com (official recruitment website)
Commanders
CommanderBrigadier General Cyrille Youchtchenko[7]
Notable
commanders
Général Paul-Frédéric Rollet
Insignia
Non-ceremonial flag
AbbreviationFFL (English)
L.É. (French)

The French Foreign Legion (French: Légion étrangère) is an elite corps of the French Army that consists of several specialties: infantry, cavalry, engineers, and airborne troops.[8] It was created in 1831 to allow foreign nationals into the French Army.[9] It formed part of the Armée d’Afrique, the French Army's units associated with France's colonial project in North Africa, until the end of the Algerian War in 1962.[10]

Legionnaires are highly trained soldiers and the French Foreign Legion is unique in that it is open to foreign recruits willing to serve in the French Armed Forces. The Legion is known today as a unit whose training focuses on traditional military skills and on its strong esprit de corps, as its men come from different countries with different cultures. Consequently, training is often described as not only physically challenging, but also very stressful psychologically. Legionnaires may apply for French citizenship after three years' service, or immediately after being wounded during a battle for France under a provision known as "Français par le sang versé" ("French by spilled blood").[11]

  1. ^ "Le saviez-vous ? Les militaires aussi ont leurs saints patrons!". Ministère des Armées. 21 January 2022.
  2. ^ Official Website of the General Command of the Foreign Legion
  3. ^ "French Foreign Legion Traditions". Foreign Legion Info. 30 June 2016.
  4. ^ "French Foreign Legion Uniforms". Foreign Legion Info.
  5. ^ Musique de la Légion étrangère (16 April 2013). "Le Boudin – Musique de la Légion étrangère (vidéo officielle)". Archived from the original on 11 December 2021 – via YouTube.
  6. ^ "United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL)".
  7. ^ "The COMLE". Legion Etrangere (in French).
  8. ^ "L'essentiel sur la Légion". www.legion-etrangere.com (in French). Retrieved 11 January 2022.[permanent dead link]
  9. ^ "Légion étrangère". www.legion-recrute.com. Retrieved 10 March 2022.
  10. ^ Jean, Des Vallières (1963). Et voici la Legion Etrangere. Éditions André Bonne. OCLC 155659405.; Anthony Clayton, "France, Soldiers, and Africa," Brassey's, 1988.
  11. ^ Cite error: The named reference Tweedie was invoked but never defined (see the help page).