Legion of Honour which went to foreigners. The large number of decorations resulted from the new posthumous awards authorised in 1918. Traditionally, membership in the could not be awarded posthumously. The establishment of the Fourth Republic in 1946 brought about the latest change in the design of the Legion of Honour. The date "1870" on the obverse was replaced by a single star. The Legion of Honour is a national order of France, meaning a public incorporated body. The Legion is regulated by a civil law code, the "Code of the Legion of Honour and of the Military Medal". While the President of
Legion of Honour distinctions (') are awarded for bravery (') or for service. For active-duty commissioned officers, the Legion of Honour award for service is achieved after 20 years of meritorious service, having been awarded the rank of of the . Bravery awards lessen the time needed for the award—in fact decorated servicemen become directly chevaliers of the , skipping the . NCOs almost never achieve that award, except for the most heavily decorated service members. Collective appointments can be made to military units. In the case of a military unit, its flag is decorated with the insignia of a knight, which is