French Foreign Legion

Foreign Legion
Légion étrangère
The Foreign Legion's grenade emblem
Active	10 March 1831 – present
Country	France
Branch	French Army
Type	Assault troops Light Infantry Foreign legion
Role	Land warfare Expeditionary warfare Airborne forces
Size	9,000 soldiers
Nickname(s)	La Légion "The Legion"
Patron	Saint Anthony[1]
Motto(s)	Honneur et Fidélité Legio Patria Nostra[2]
Branch colours Colour of Beret	Red and Green   Green[3][4]
March	Le Boudin[5]
Anniversaries	Camerone Day (30 April)
Engagements	French conquest of Algeria First Carlist War Crimean War Second Italian War of Independence French intervention in Mexico French campaign against Korea Franco-Prussian War Sino-French War Second Franco-Dahomean War Second Madagascar expedition Mandingo Wars World War I Levant Campaign Rif War World War II Syria–Lebanon Campaign First Indochina War Algerian War Chadian-Libyan conflict Shaba II Lebanese Civil War 1975–1990 United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (1978–present)[6] Multinational Force in Lebanon 1982–1984 Gulf War War on terror (2001–2008) Operation Enduring Freedom War in Afghanistan First Ivorian Civil War Second Ivorian Civil War Northern Mali conflict Central African Republic Civil War (2012–2021) Central African Republic conflict (2013–2014) Operation Sangaris (2013–2016) European Union Military Operation in the Central African Republic (2014–2015)
Website	legion-etrangere.com (official website) legion-recrute.com (official recruitment website)
Commanders
Commander	Brigadier General Cyrille Youchtchenko[7]
Notable commanders	Général Paul-Frédéric Rollet
Insignia
Non-ceremonial flag
Abbreviation	FFL (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, 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 Northern Africa, until the end of the Algerian War in 1962.^[10]

Legionnaires are highly trained soldiers and the 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").

Insignia[edit]

Regiment	Colors	Insignia	Beret Insignia	Tenure	Notable Commandants
Le Commandement de la Légion étrangère (C.O.M.L.E)				1931–present	général Paul-Frédéric Rollet général Raoul Magrin-Vernerey général Jean-Claude Coullon
1st Foreign Regiment (1er R.E.)				1841–present	François Achille Bazaine Colonel Raphaël Vienot Pierre Joseph Jeanningros Captain Jean Danjou Peter I of Serbia Herbert Kitchener, 1st Earl Kitchener[citation needed] Paul-Frédéric Rollet Commandant Pierre Segrétain Lieutenant Colonel Pierre Paul Jeanpierre
4th Foreign Regiment (4ème R.E.)	*			1920–1940 1941–1943 1948–1963 1976 –present
Foreign Legion Recruiting Group (G.R.L.E)	*			2007–present
Legion Pionniers (Pionniers de La Légion Etrangère) 1st Foreign Regiment Pionniers Sections of Tradition 1st Foreign Engineer Regiment Pionniers Groups 2nd Foreign Engineer Regiment Pionniers Groups 3rd Foreign Infantry Regiment Pionniers Groups 4th Foreign Regiment Pionniers Groups Foreign Legion Detachment in Mayotte Pionniers Groups			1e RE 1e REG 2e REG 3e RE 4e RE D.L.E.M	1831–present
Communal Depot of the Foreign Regiments (D.C.R.E)			*	1933–1955 1955–present	Colonel Louis-Antoine Gaultier
1st Foreign Infantry Regiment (1er R.E.I)				1950–1955
1st Foreign Cavalry Regiment (1er R.E.C)		Nec Pluribus Impar		1921–present
Foreign Air Supply Company (C.E.R.A)	*			1951
Parachute Company of the 3rd Foreign Infantry Regiment (Para Co. du 3ème R.E.I)	*			1948–1949 1st Foreign Parachute Battalion 1er BEP (1948–1955)	Lieutenant Jacques Morin (Company Commander)[46] Lieutenant Paul Arnaud de Foïard (Section-Platoon, Commander)
1st Foreign Parachute Battalion (1er B.E.P)	*			1948–1955	Commandant Pierre Segrétain[43] (1er BEP, I formation) Lieutenant Colonel Pierre Jeanpierre[45] (1er BEP, I, II and III formations) Captain Pierre Sergent [fr]
1st Foreign Parachute Regiment (1er R.E.P)	*	Marche ou Creve		1955–1961	Lieutenant Colonel Pierre Jeanpierre[45] Commandant Hélie de Saint Marc Captain Pierre Sergent [fr] Guy Rubin de Cervens
1st Foreign Parachute Heavy Mortar Company (1ère C.E.P.M.L)	*			1953–1954	Lieutenant Jacques Molinier Lieutenant Paul Turcy Lieutenant Erwan Bergot Lieutenant Jean Singland
1st Foreign Engineer Regiment (1er R.E.G)		Ad Unum		1999–present
2nd Foreign Engineer Regiment (2ème R.E.G)		Rien n'empêche		1999–present
2nd Foreign Cavalry Regiment (2ème R.E.C)	*			1939–1940 1945–1962
2nd Foreign Infantry Regiment (2ème R.E.I)		Être Prêt		3 April 1841 – 1 April 1943 1 August 1945 – 1 January 1968 1 September 1972 – present	Patrice de MacMahon, Duke of Magenta François Certain Canrobert Jean-Luc Carbuccia Colonel de Chabrières Pierre Joseph Jeanningros Captain Jean Danjou Commandant Pierre Segrétain Lieutenant Colonel Pierre Paul Jeanpierre
2nd Foreign Parachute Battalion (2ème B.E.P)	*			1948–1955	Commandant Barthélémy Rémy Raffali[79] Captain Georges Hamacek
2nd Foreign Parachute Regiment (2ème R.E.P)		More Majorum		1955–present	Lieutenant Colonel Paul Arnaud de Foïard
2nd Marching Regiment of the 1st Foreign Regiment- 2èmeRM.1er RE (1914–1915) 3rd Marching Regiment of the 1st Foreign Regiment- 3èmeRM.1erRE (1914–1915) 4th Marching Regiment of the 1st Foreign Regiment- 4èmeRM.1erRE (1914–1915) 2nd Marching Regiment of the 2nd Foreign Regiment- 2èmeRM.2èmeRE (1914–1915) Marching Regiment of the Foreign Legion (R.M.L.E)	*			1915–1920 1942–1945 3rd Foreign Infantry Regiment-present	Colonel Paul-Frédéric Rollet Lieutenant-Colonel Peppino Garibaldi Colonel Alphonse Van Hecke Eugene Bullard American poet Alan Seeger Swiss poet, French naturalized Blaise Cendrars Lieutenant Colonel Prince Count Aage of Rosenborg Italian writer, Curzio Malaparte Lazare Ponticelli
3rd Foreign Infantry Regiment (3ème R.E.I)	*	Legio Patria Nostra		11 November 1915 – present
Marching Regiments of Foreign Volunteers (RMVE) 21st Marching Regiment of Foreign Volunteers- 21e R.M.V.E (1939–1940) 22nd Marching Regiment of Foreign Volunteers- 22e R.M.V.E (1939–1940) 23rd Marching Regiment of Foreign Volunteers- 23e R.M.V.E (1940)	*			1939–1940
3rd Foreign Parachute Battalion (3ème B.E.P)	*			1948–1955	Captain Darmuzai[80]
3rd Foreign Parachute Regiment (3ème R.E.P)	*			1955–1955	Captain Darmuzai[80]
5th Foreign Infantry Regiment (5ème R.E.I)				1930–2000
6th Foreign Infantry Regiment (6ème R.E.I)		Ad Unum		1939–1940; 1949–1955	Commandant Pierre Segrétain Lieutenant Colonel Pierre Jeanpierre
6th Foreign Engineer Regiment (6ème R.E.G)		Ad Unum		1984–1999 1999–1e REG
11th Foreign Infantry Regiment (11ème R.E.I)	*			1939–1940
12th Foreign Infantry Regiment (12ème R.E.I)	*			1939–1940
13th Demi-Brigade of the Foreign Legion (13ème D.B.L.E)		More Majorum		1940–present
Foreign Legion Detachment in Mayotte (D.L.E.M)	*	Pericula Ludus		1973–present