Fourragère

The fourragère is a military award, distinguishing military units as a whole, in the form of a braided cord. The award was first adopted by France, followed by other nations such as the Netherlands, Belgium, Portugal, and Luxembourg. Fourragères have been awarded to units of both national and foreign militaries, except for that of Luxembourg, which has not been awarded to any foreign units.
The origin of the award is not entirely certain, but at least two conjectural stories have been posited. The first involves Flemish soldiers serving under the Duke of Alva who were reported as having been cowardly in battle. The Duke threatened them all with hanging if they did not perform better in future engagements, and the soldiers, so insulted by the insinuation, took to wearing cords tied to large nails around their shoulders, as if to say "Hang me by this cord and nail if you see me run from battle." Following this, the unit's members performed so well that the rope and nail became a badge of honor.
The other is that to the extent that an aiguillette is a form of fourragère, the wearing of armor by European knights required the use of ropes with metal tabs and a squire to cinch the armor into place—the squire would carry these cords over his shoulder, hence the association with aides de camp.

France

History

As a regimental distinction the fourragère should not be confused with the aiguillette which was introduced by Napoleon I and which it closely resembles.
The modern fourragère of the French Army is awarded to all members of military units which have been awarded a mention in despatches. It should not be confused with unit awards of particular decorations, where the medal itself is hung on the flag of the unit. For example, there are many units wearing the fourragère of the médaille militaire, whereas only six units wore the medal on their flags.
It was introduced during the First World War, when the French Ministry of War first awarded the fourragère to units which had been recorded as distinguishing themselves more than once in the Orders of the Army. There were then six fourragères, depending on the numbers of Mentions in dispatches awarded to the unit:

Numbers of mentions	First and Second World Wars	Overseas Wars	Operations since 1952
9,10 or 11	Double, red and green with red stripes	not awarded	not awarded
6, 7 or 8	Simple, red	Simple, red, with an olive red and blue	not awarded
4 or 5	Simple, yellow with green stripes	Simple, yellow with green stripes, with an olive red and blue	not awarded
2 or 3	Simple, green with red stripes	Simple, red and blue	Simple, red and white

If a unit received this distinction in both the First and Second World Wars, its fourragère bears two olives, one for each conflict it earned mentions. These olives are different:

numbers of mentions	First World War	Second World War
9, 10 or 11	half-red and half-green with red stripes, the two halves separated by a white ring	not awarded
6, 7 or 8	half-red and half-green with red stripes	not awarded
4 or 5	half-yellow with green stripes and half-green with red stripes	half-yellow with green stripes and half-red with green stripes
2 or 3	green with red stripes	red with green stripes

During the Second World War, the medal of the Ordre de la Libération was awarded to the flags of 17 military units, whose members now wear a fourragère since June 18, 1996. This fourragère is considered the top unit award in the French military, as the ordre de la Libération award is seen to be more important than any mention in dispatches.
Certain French military units wear combinations of fourragères, if they were mentioned in orders in both one of the World War and an overseas war. For example, the famous Foreign Legion regiment the 3rd Foreign Infantry wears a double fourragère red and green with red stripes, with an olive red with green stripes and a fourragère yellow with green stripes, with an olive red and blue.
Fourragères used by the French Foreign Legion are:

2e REI – croix de guerre des TOE
2e REP – Légion d'honneur
1er REC - Croix de Guerre ; croix de guerre des TOE
3e REI – Légion d'honneur, Médaille militaire, Croix de Guerre
13e DBLE – Ordre de la Libération
Personal wear of the ''fourragère''

The fourragère is normally worn by members of a unit awarded the decoration. When they leave the unit, they have to relinquish the fourragère. However members who took part personally in the actions leading to the award of the fourragère can continue to wear the fourragère, even after leaving the unit. They can only wear a fourragère corresponding to the number of actions they actually took part in. Thus, if a member of a 5-mentions regiment leaves but took part in only two mentioned actions, he can only wear the croix de guerre fourragère and not the médaille militaire fourragère.

Pictures

American Units awarded the ''fourragère''

The 5th Marine Regiment, the 6th Marine Regiment, and the 5th Machine Gun Battalion of the United States Marine Corps were awarded the fourragère for having earned the Croix de Guerre with palm leaf three times during World War I.
The 9th Infantry Regiment, 23rd Infantry Regiment, 12th Field Artillery Regiment, 15th Field Artillery Regiment, 17th Field Artillery Regiment, 2nd Engineer Battalion, 1st Field Signal Battalion, 2nd Trench Artillery, 2nd Sanitary Train, 2nd Division, A.E.F., was awarded the French Croix de Guerre with Palm three times, and awarded the French fourragère for service during World War I campaigns at Chateau Thierry, Aisne-Marne, and Meuse-Argonne. In addition, because several U.S. soldiers were present in front-line action during each battle for which all the unit within the 2nd Division was awarded the Croix de Guerre, the French Government and U.S. Army Adjutant General allowed these soldiers to wear the fourragère as an individual decoration regardless of future unit assignment—a very rare honor. In total, 30,000 A.E.F. officers and men were certified to wear the French fourragère as an individual decoration, per the Final Report of the Secretary of War, 1922.
During World War I, the 5th S.S.U. and 646th S.S.U. was awarded the fourragère aux couleurs du ruban de la médaille militaire.
During World War II, the 16th, 18th, and 26th Infantry Regiments, the 5th and 7th Field Artillery Battalions, the 1st Engineer Battalion and the 1st Signal Company were awarded the fourragère aux couleurs du ruban de la médaille militaire.
17 French military units wear the fourragère of the Ordre de la Libération
370th Infantry Regiment
82nd Airborne Division during the Battle of Normandy in June 1944.
The 3rd Division was awarded the Fourragère aux couleurs de la Croix de Guerre for service to France in WW II.
The 79th Infantry Division was awarded the Fourragère aux couleurs de la Croix de Guerre for its actions in helping liberate Paris from June 1944 through 27 August 1944 and helping liberate Baccarat, Phalsbourg and Saverne from 21–24 November 1944.
The 12th Field Artillery Regiment was awarded the French fourragère in World War I and the Belgian fourragère in World War II.
The 102nd Cavalry Regiment was awarded the French and Belgian Croix de Guuerre in World War II.
The 104th Infantry Regiment, 26th Infantry Division was awarded the French Croix de Guerre in World War I and World War II.
The 121st Cavalry Squadron of the 106th Cavalry Group, XV Corps, was awarded the French Croix de Guerre and French fourragère for actions during World War II.
The 143rd Infantry Regiment, 36th Division, Texas Army National Guard, was awarded the French Croix de Guerre in connection with its action fought at Meuse-Argonne during World War I.
The 4th Infantry Division, consisting of the 8th, 12th and the 22nd Infantry Regiments were awarded the Belgian fourragère for action in the Battle of the Bulge. The 8th Infantry was awarded the Presidential Unit Citation for the Beaches of Normandy, the 12th Infantry for Luxembourg and the 22nd Infantry received three Presidential Unit Citations for Carentan, St. Gillis_Marigny, and the Hurtgen Forest.
The 2nd Infantry Division, 9th Infantry Division, 30th Infantry Division, 101st Airborne Division, 2nd Armored Division, 3rd Armored Division and 7th Armored Division was awarded the Belgian fourragère on July 13th, 1950 for their action in the Battle of the Bulge.
World War I

World War II

Dutch Orange Lanyard

The Cabinet of the Netherlands granted the right to wear an Orange Lanyard to individual members of 3 United States Army units who actually participated in the ground operations of Operation Market Garden in 1944: The U.S. 82nd Airborne Division by ministerial decree of 8 October 1945, the U.S. 101st Airborne Division on 20 September 1946 and on 20 April 1982 to glider pilots of the IXth U.S. Air Force Troop Carrier Command who were 'forgotten' in 1945 and 1946..
The Orange Lanyard has nothing to do with the Military Order of William. This persistent misconception among many militaria collectors, primarily in the United States, arises from the fact that the orange fourragere was awarded to individual members of the U.S. 82nd Airborne Division by Ministerial Decree of October 8, 1945, the very same day that the Military Order of William 4th Class was awarded by Royal Decree No. 30 to the unit colours of the U.S. 82nd Airborne Division.