FOURRAGèRE

The '''Fourragère''' is a military award, distinguishing military units as a whole. The award has been firstly adopted by France, followed by other nations such as the Netherlands, Belgium and Portugal.
=France=

Contents

History

Units awarded the fourragère

Pictures

Dutch orange lanyard

Belgian fourragère

Portugese fourragères

South Vietnamese fourragère

See also

References

History

The ''Fourragère'' was instituted by Napoleon I, Emperor of the French, but actually has prior historic significance: after a hasty retreat from battle by a unit of Flemish troops, the Duke of Alba ordered that any further misconduct in that unit be punished by hanging, regardless of rank. Those Flemish troops then wore a cord tied into a hangman's noose on their shoulder going into their next battle, and fought so valiantly that the cord became a mark of distinction.
The fourragère is awarded to all members of military unit which, as a whole, was awarded a mention in dispatches. It should not be confused with unit awards of particular decorations, where the medal itself is hung on the flag of the unit. For example, there are many units wearing the ''fourragère'' of the ''médaille militaire'', whereas only six units wore the medal on their flags.
Refer to Croix de guerre
During the First World War, the French Ministry of War awarded the Fourragère to units which distinguished themselves more than once in the orders of the Army. There were then six fourragères, depending on the numbers of mentions in Dispatches awarded to the unit:

Numbers of mentions	First and Second World Wars	Overseas Wars
9,10 or 11	Double, red (color of the ''légion d'honneur'') and green with red stripes (colors of the ''croix de guerre 14-18'')	''not awarded''
6, 7 or 8	Simple, red	Simple, red, with an olive red and blue (colors of the ''croix de guerre'' Overseas)
4 or 5	Simple, yellow with green stripes (colors of the ''médaille militaire'')	Simple, yellow with green stripes, with an olive red and blue
2 or 3	Simple, green with red stripes	Simple, red and blue

If an unit is mentioned in both First and Second World Wars, its ''fourragère'' bears two olives, one for each conflict it earned mentions. These olives are different :

numbers of mentions	First World War	Second World War
9, 10 or 11	half-red and half-green with red stripes, the two halves separated by a white ring	half-red and half-red with green stripes (colors of the ''croix de guerre 39-45''), the two halves separated by a white ring
6, 7 or 8	half-red and half-green with red stripes	half-red and half-red with green stripes
4 or 5	half-yellow with green stripes and half-green with red stripes	half-yellow with green stripes and half-red with green stripes
2 or 3	green with red stripes	red with green stripes

During the Second World War, the medal of the ''Ordre de la Libération'' was awarded to the flags of 17 military units, whose members now wear a fourragère since June 18, 1996. This ''fourragère'' is considered the top unit award in the French military, as the ''ordre de la Libération'' award is seen to be more important than any mention in Dispatches.
Certain French military units wear combinations of fourragères, if it were mentioned in both a world war and an overseas war. For example, the famous Foreign Legion regiment the 3^rd Foreign Infantry wears a double fourragère red and green with red stripes (9 mentions during WW1), with an olive red with green stripes (3 mentions during WW2) and a fourragère yellow with green stripes, with an olive red and blue (5 mentions during Overseas Wars).
Fourragères used by the French Foreign Legion are:

★ 2e REI (2nd Foreign Legion Infantry) - Croix de Guerre TOE

★ 2e REP (2nd Foreign Legion Paratroops) - Légion d'Honneur

★ 1er REC (1st Foreign Legion Cavalry) - Croix de Guerre (WW2); Médaille Militaire

★ 3e REI (3rd Foreign Legion Infantry) - Légion d'Honneur, Médaille Militaire, Croix de Guerre

★ 13e DBLE (13th Foreign Legion Demi-Brigade) - Ordre de la Libération

Units awarded the fourragère

★ During WWI, the 5th S.S.U. was awarded the ''fourragère aux couleurs du ruban de la médaille militaire''.

★ During WWII, the 16th, 18th and 26th Infantry Regiments U.S., the 5th and 7th Field Artillery Battalions U.S., the 1st Engineer Battalion U.S. and the 1st Signal Company U.S. were awarded the ''fourragère aux couleurs du ruban de la médaille militaire''.

★ 17 French military units wear the fourragère of the ''Ordre de la Libération'' (see article for the list).

★ The 5th Marine Regiment and the 6th Marine Regiment of the United States Marine Corps were awarded the Fourragère for having earned the Croix de Guerre with palm leaf twice during World War I.

★ U.S. 370th Infantry Regiment (World War I) [1]

★ BEF Units of World War I[2]

★ Active members of the National Society of Pershing Rifles are authorized to wear the fourragère of the Society, which is distinct in being one of only two fourragères with an organization-specific metal tip (the other being the Air Force Honor Guard). (Reference: Vanguard Industries, Inc. [3])

★ Active members of Arnold Air Society in uniform wear the blue and gold fourragère of the society. (Reference: Baird's Manual of American College Fraternities, 20th edition p. VII-17)

★ U.S. 82nd Airborne Division during the battle of Normandy in June 1944.

★ The US Third Infantry Division (Marne Division)was awaraded the Fourragere aux couleurs de la Croix de guerre for service to France in WWI as part of the American Expeditionary Force.Members of the Division are allowed to wear the Fourrage on their dress uniforms as long as they are assigned to the Division.

Pictures

Dutch orange lanyard

Refer to Order of William

Belgian fourragère

The Belgian Fourragere of 1940 was created by Prince Charles of Belgium, Regent of the Kingdom to honour certain military formations that distinquished themselves during the Second World War. It consists of three cords terminated by a knot and a metal tag, and is braided in red and green; the colours of the Belgian Croix de Guerre of 1940. The fourragere is in cotton for non-commissoned officers and soldiers and in silk for officers.

Portugese fourragères

Portrugal has three fourragères, the War Cross (red and blue), the Medal of Military Valour (blue and white) and the Order of the Tower and Sword (solid blue).

South Vietnamese fourragère

The Republic of Vietnam Cross of Gallantry is the equivalent of the French Croix de Guerre. It was created by Decree No 74-b/Qt dated 15 August 1950 and Decree No 96/DQT/HC dated 2 May 1952. Both individuals (denoted by a star) and formations (denoted by a palm) cited for gallantry were awarded the decoration. Formations that were awarded the Gallantry Cross for two or more occassions were initially authorised to wear a fourragère.

See also

★ Aiguillette

References