Fewer awards as Legion d'Honneur gets overhaul

The number of Legion d'Honneur awards handed out is set to drop dramatically from next year, after France announced an overhaul of the 200-year-old award system.

From 2018, awards will be made 'solely on merit,' government spokesman Christophe Castaner said.

“We do not have the Légion d’Honneur to butter people up,” he said.

The number of civilian honours will drop 50%, Mr Castaner said, while military awards will fall 10% and those handed to foreigners will drop 25%.

There will be a 50% cut in civilian honours from 2018, a 10% drop in military awards and 25% fewer for foreigners, he said, while future honours will more accurately reflect 21st-century French society.

In the past, French Presidents have habitually handed out an average of 3,000 awards a year, with up to 600 being given to mark Bastille Day alone - but President Emmanuel Macron awarded only 101 at this year's celebrations, hinting at changes to the honours system that was brought in by Napoleon Bonaparte in 1802.