FRENCH LEGION OF HONOR ORDER 2nd EMPIRE GRAND OFFICER'S STAR 900 SILVER PLATED

Description

This silver breast star is a reproduction of the Second Empire French Legion of Honor Grand Officer's breast star in silver -  in full the National Order of the Legion of Honor (
Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur
)
.
It is
France
’s second highest award for military and civil merit.  The order was established in
1802 by
Napoléon Bonaparte.
The silver breast star was awarded to members of the order holding the rank of Grand Officer.  It is worn on the right breast while the medal of the order was worn on a red ribbon with a large rosette on the opposite side.
The medal is made of 900 silver-plated brass and weighs 4.2 oz. (130 grams). It has a pin and and catch device  and two pointed pins
for mounting.  The medal measures 85 mm across.
The front of the five-armed “Maltese Asterisk” (star) has a profile of the emperor in a silver medallion ringed  by the words “
Republic
Française,
”
the motto “
Honneur et Patrie
(Honor and Fatherland) of the Order and the year 1870, the date the Third Republic was established after the Franco Prussian War.