History

The rank of commandeur in the French orders comes from the Middle Ages military orders,
in which low-level administrative houses were called commanderies and were governed by
commandeurs. In the Modern Age, the French Kings created chivalric orders which
mimicked the military order's ranks.

 The Order of the Holy Spirit, created in 1578 by king Henry III, had two categories of
commanders.
o Ecclesiastical commanders: members of the clergy with the rank of prelate.
They were eight, but the grand almoner of the King was counted as a
supplementary ecclesiastical commander ex officio.
o Administrative officers: the "officers-commanders" were the four most
important executive officers of the order. They had the same rank as lay
knights, but they needed not to prove their nobility. These offices were used
by the Kings to honor recent nobles, such as Jean-Baptiste Colbert. The
officers-commanders were sometimes called grand officers, in order to
distinguished them from the lowest rank of officers.
 The Order of Saint Louis, created in 1694 by King Louis XIV, had one rank of
commanders. This was the second highest rank of the order, destined to honor
military officers. They were only 24 commanders at a time, eventually promoted to
the rank of Grand Cross.

Both orders were suppressed in 1830 by the new King Louis-Philippe I.

Modern merit orders

Insignia of the rank of Commander in the Legion of Honor

 The Legion of Honour, created in 1802 by Napoléon Bonaparte, was hereditary on the
grandchildren descendants of his siblings, and originally had a rank of Commandant.
This rank was renamed Commander by King Louis XVIII in 1816 in order to bring
the Napoleonic order on monarchical guidelines. This is still the third highest rank of
the order.
 The Ordre national du Mérite, created in 1963 by President Charles de Gaulle, has the
same rank structure as the Legion of Honor. The Commanders form the third highest
rank of the order.
 The Ordre des Palmes académiques, created in 1808 for teachers and professors, has
Commander as its highest rank since reorganization in 1955 by President René Coty.
 The Order of Agricultural Merit, created in 1883 for contributions to agriculture, has
Commander as its highest rank since reorganization in 1900.
 The Ordre du Mérite Maritime has had Commander as its highest rank since its
creation in 1930.
 The Ordre des Arts et des Lettres has Commander as its highest rank since its creation
in 1957.