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
God, Honour, Fatherland This is also the motto of the French Legion of Honour, instituted by Napoleon in 1802. It is likely that the phrase was brought to Poland by the soldiers of the Napoleonic-era Polish legions. It was introduced as phrase to be used on the banners of the newly reconstituted Polish military of the Second Polish Republic in 1919. The word God was officially added to the standards, preceding words Honour and Fatherland, by the decree of the Polish government-in-exile in 1943. This decree remained in force till it was changed by the communist government of the People's Republic of Poland