Décoration du Lys
Encyclopedia
The Décoration du Lys was a medal created by the Bourbon Restoration
.
. Napoleon ended his reign with a series of Pyrrhic victories which could not save the Empire, and he abdicated on 5 April 1814. In a Paris occupied by the forces of the Coalition
, the National Guard ensured public order by wearing a white cockade
, abandoning the Revolutionary tricolour cockade, and it was on this corps that the returning Bourbons chose to found their power, rather than the Imperial armies and their officers, which they judged still to be too unreliable.
. It was then that little medals with the image of the new king and fleurs de lys
, on white ribbons, began to circulate to reassure and appease the Paris population.
One of the comte d’Artois's orders of the day, on 26 April 1814, created the Décoration du Lys for the garde nationale of Paris as "a perpetual sign of the services it has rendered, whether in fighting for their homes and, charged alone on the night of 30 March with ensuring Paris's guard and safety, preserving the king's capital for the king and the goods, lives and honour of so many families, or - when occupying posts beside those of the troops of the line - it rendered them an example of devotion and sacrifice, or when - despite this painful service - it acted as the maison militaire du Roi and granted the royal family the satisfaction of, for their guard, not being surrounded by the French."
By an order of the day on 9 May 1814, king Louis XVIII approved the creation of the Décoration du Lys, extending it to all the gardes nationales of France. It was awarded to the national guards after they took the following oath - "I swear fidelity to God, and to the King, forever" The granting of the Décoration du Lys induced the grant of an official patent.
Assuring the loyalty of the social elite to the new monarchy thanks to this simple honour, the award of the Décoration du Lys would be extended again and again, quickly starting to be awarded in all France's regions then royal officials granted them successively to generals, ministers, prefects, and finally even mayors. It was banned during the Hundred Days
, then reinstated on the Second Restoration, only to be suppressed once and for all by an ordinance of Louis Philippe
on 10 February 1831.
Then it was awarded equally to officials of various administrations, to notables, to deputation members, to high-level and general officers, etc.
As with the croix du Lys, some bore the inscription Gage de la paix- Vive le Roi. These bars were sometimes borne on the ribbon of the Légion d’honneur.
Bourbon Restoration
The Bourbon Restoration is the name given to the period following the successive events of the French Revolution , the end of the First Republic , and then the forcible end of the First French Empire under Napoleon – when a coalition of European powers restored by arms the monarchy to the...
.
Background
From the end of 1813, Napoleon's armies were fighting on their own soil, culminating in the Six Days CampaignSix Days Campaign
The Six Days Campaign was a final series of victories by the forces of Napoleon Bonaparte as the Sixth Coalition closed in on Paris....
. Napoleon ended his reign with a series of Pyrrhic victories which could not save the Empire, and he abdicated on 5 April 1814. In a Paris occupied by the forces of the Coalition
First Coalition
The War of the First Coalition was the first major effort of multiple European monarchies to contain Revolutionary France. France declared war on the Habsburg monarchy of Austria on 20 April 1792, and the Kingdom of Prussia joined the Austrian side a few weeks later.These powers initiated a series...
, the National Guard ensured public order by wearing a white cockade
Cockade
A cockade is a knot of ribbons, or other circular- or oval-shaped symbol of distinctive colors which is usually worn on a hat.-Eighteenth century:...
, abandoning the Revolutionary tricolour cockade, and it was on this corps that the returning Bourbons chose to found their power, rather than the Imperial armies and their officers, which they judged still to be too unreliable.
Creation
King Louis XVIII arrived in Paris on 3 May with his brother Charles de Bourbon, Comte d’Artois, the future Charles XCharles X of France
Charles X was known for most of his life as the Comte d'Artois before he reigned as King of France and of Navarre from 16 September 1824 until 2 August 1830. A younger brother to Kings Louis XVI and Louis XVIII, he supported the latter in exile and eventually succeeded him...
. It was then that little medals with the image of the new king and fleurs de lys
Fleur de Lys
Fleur de Lys is a superheroine from Quebec and an ally of Northguard, created in 1984 by Mark Shainblum and Gabriel Morrissette. The name of the character is inspired by the heraldic symbol of the fleur de lys. It is the official emblem of Quebec and a prominent part of the Flag of Quebec...
, on white ribbons, began to circulate to reassure and appease the Paris population.
One of the comte d’Artois's orders of the day, on 26 April 1814, created the Décoration du Lys for the garde nationale of Paris as "a perpetual sign of the services it has rendered, whether in fighting for their homes and, charged alone on the night of 30 March with ensuring Paris's guard and safety, preserving the king's capital for the king and the goods, lives and honour of so many families, or - when occupying posts beside those of the troops of the line - it rendered them an example of devotion and sacrifice, or when - despite this painful service - it acted as the maison militaire du Roi and granted the royal family the satisfaction of, for their guard, not being surrounded by the French."
By an order of the day on 9 May 1814, king Louis XVIII approved the creation of the Décoration du Lys, extending it to all the gardes nationales of France. It was awarded to the national guards after they took the following oath - "I swear fidelity to God, and to the King, forever" The granting of the Décoration du Lys induced the grant of an official patent.
Assuring the loyalty of the social elite to the new monarchy thanks to this simple honour, the award of the Décoration du Lys would be extended again and again, quickly starting to be awarded in all France's regions then royal officials granted them successively to generals, ministers, prefects, and finally even mayors. It was banned during the Hundred Days
Hundred Days
The Hundred Days, sometimes known as the Hundred Days of Napoleon or Napoleon's Hundred Days for specificity, marked the period between Emperor Napoleon I of France's return from exile on Elba to Paris on 20 March 1815 and the second restoration of King Louis XVIII on 8 July 1815...
, then reinstated on the Second Restoration, only to be suppressed once and for all by an ordinance of Louis Philippe
Louis-Philippe of France
Louis Philippe I was King of the French from 1830 to 1848 in what was known as the July Monarchy. His father was a duke who supported the French Revolution but was nevertheless guillotined. Louis Philippe fled France as a young man and spent 21 years in exile, including considerable time in the...
on 10 February 1831.
Beneficiaries
- Order of April 26 1814: the Décoration du Lys was to be granted solely to the troops of the national guard of Paris "officers, sous-officiers, grenadiers or chasseurs who have justified their well-deserving them"
- Order of May 9 1814: the granting of the Décoration du Lys was extended to all the national guards of France.
Then it was awarded equally to officials of various administrations, to notables, to deputation members, to high-level and general officers, etc.
Ribbons
- Ordinance of 26 April 1814 : a simple white ribbon.
- Ordinance of 9 May 1814 : white ribbon moiréMoiré patternIn physics, a moiré pattern is an interference pattern created, for example, when two grids are overlaid at an angle, or when they have slightly different mesh sizes.- Etymology :...
with a white rosette ; but to distinguish the garde nationale de Paris, the arms of Paris were embroidered or marked on the ribbon - Ordinance of 5 August 1814 : the ribbon of the Garde nationale de Paris became white with, along each side, a 2mm blue stripe.
- Ordinance of 5 February 1816 : each of the gardes nationales départementales bore the Décoration du Lys on a ribbon specific to its department, with only 12 of France's 86 departments retaining the white ribbon.
Bars
- Ordinance of 9 May 1814 : for civil holders, the king authorised the wearing of a simple white ribbon, sometimes with a three-band bar, generally in silver but sometimes in gold, representing a reduction of the croix du Lys, or a lily (often crowned and bordered by two olive branches)
As with the croix du Lys, some bore the inscription Gage de la paix- Vive le Roi. These bars were sometimes borne on the ribbon of the Légion d’honneur.
Insignia
- Ordinance of 26 April 1814 : a simple fleur de lys in silver.
- Ordinance of 9 May 1814 : a silver fleur de lys from the royal crown.
- Ruling of 31 August 1816 : after too many abuses of the insignia (mostly eccentric), the count of Artois fixed the definitive rules for wearing the Décoration du Lys.
- 5 May 1824 : the grand chancellor of the Légion d’honneur recalled that "the Décoration du Lys having furnished a pretext for a multitude of abuses, the king put its supervision under the grand chancellor. He therefore recalled that this decoration must only be a simple silver fleur de lys hung from a white ribbon or of the colours set out for each of the departments of the kingdom (...) The mania for ribbons and decorations, the cupidity of some jewellers, fantasies and whims, made some imagine and make several forms, imitating royal or foreign orders. It was ruled that each ribbon must be worn only for one department and the simple, long-established fleur de lys was to be the only one allowed; all the others were abolished and must disappear."