Bono’s got one of Napoleon’s gongs and so has Geldof

Established in 1802 by Napoleon Bonaparte, the Legion d’Honneur (left) is the highest French decoration, both military and civilian.

Nearly one million have been awarded. To receive one, a nonFrench national must have served France or the ideals it upholds.

Recent British recipients include Sir Paul McCartney (2012) and Harry Potter author J K Rowling (2009). Other non-French holders include Bob Geldof, Bono, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Barbra Streisand, Clint Eastwood and Bob Dylan.

British novelists Graham Greene (1967) and Nancy Mitford (1950) also received the award.

Journalists to have received the honour include Anne Sinclair, the USborn ex-wife of disgraced former IMF chief Dominique Strauss-Khan . British soldiers who fought with the Allies in the two world wars have been among international military recipients. They included Harry Patch, the last surviving soldier known to have fought in the first world war trenches, who died in 2009, and many who landed on the beaches of Normandy in 1944, .

The honour, pictured left, is represented by a red ribbon, an oak and laurel wreath and five-armed medal. The head of Marianne, the national symbol of France, is on one side and two tricolour flags with the motto ‘Honneur et Patrie’ (Honour and Fatherland) on the other. Foreigners do not have to go to France to receive their medal.

The rank of Chevalier does not equate to being a Knight in the British honours system - it is akin to an MBE. Of the other four ranks, Officier is equivalent to an OBE and Commandeur a CBE, while Grand Officier and Grand Croix, the top ranks, are roughly equivalent to knighthoods and damehoods.