French Foreign Legion information. An online project dedicated to the famous Foreign Legion.
Summer is traditionally a quiet season for Legion news, but a nice photo slideshow is well worth a look while things wind down. Posted on YouTube by an Italian former legionnaire, the video takes viewers through his five years of service in the French Foreign Legion, from August 1987 to August 1992, most of it spent with the 2nd Foreign Parachute Regiment (2e REP).
Read moreAn Italian Legionnaire’s Photo Journey Through the Legion, 1987–1992
On July 19, 2026, the French Foreign Legion held a White Kepi Ceremony (Remise des Képis blancs) on the ramparts of the historic port city of Saint-Malo, in Brittany, a historical region in the north-west of France. During the ceremony, forty recruits from the 3rd Platoon, 1st Company of Enlisted Volunteers of the 4th Foreign Regiment (4e RE) — the Legion’s training regiment — donned the white kepi for the first time and took the Legion’s traditional oath to serve France “with honor and fidelity.”
July 14 marks France’s national holiday, Bastille Day. Beyond the main military parade in Paris, where the French Foreign Legion was represented once again this year, Legion units also take part in local celebrations held across the country and in France’s overseas territories.
On May 18, 2026, a White Kepi Ceremony (Remise de Képi blanc) of the French Foreign Legion took place in Toulouse, a major city in southwestern France. New legionnaires from the 4th Foreign Regiment (4e RE), the Legion’s training regiment, donned the iconic White kepi for the first time at Place du Capitole, the city’s main square.
On April 30, 2026, the French Foreign Legion observed the 163rd anniversary of the Battle of Camerone, the legendary action that forged the Legion’s identity and esprit de corps. On that day in Mexico in 1863, a company of 62 legionnaires led by Captain Jean Danjou stood against some 2,000 Mexican soldiers. The legionnaires refused to surrender and fought until only three of them remained standing. As every year, the anniversary was commemorated across all Legion units and garrisons, in France and abroad. Below are images from several of these ceremonies.
In early March 2026, the Foreign Legion Institution for Disabled Veterans (IILE) in Puyloubier, southern France, hosted a White Kepi Ceremony (Remise de Képi blanc). During the ceremony, around thirty recruits from the 2nd Platoon, 1st Company of Enlisted Volunteers of the 4th Foreign Regiment (4e RE) donned the iconic White kepi, took the Legion’s traditional oath to serve with “Honor and Fidelity,” and officially became legionnaires.
Read more4e RE: 2026 Remise de Kepi blanc at the IILE in Puyloubier
On February 12, 2026, recruits from the 1st Platoon, 2nd Company of Enlisted Volunteers of the French Foreign Legion’s 4th Foreign Regiment (4e RE) officially became legionnaires during a White Kepi Ceremony (Remise de Képi blanc) held at the Prytanée national militaire in La Flèche, a small town in the Sarthe department of northwestern France.
On January 11, 2026, a White Kepi Ceremony (Remise de Kepi blanc) of the French Foreign Legion took place in Strasbourg, located in eastern France near the German border. Forty recruits from the 3rd Company of Enlisted Volunteers of the 4th Foreign Regiment (4e RE) officially became legionnaires.
On October 4, 2025, the 47th edition of the Semi-Marathon de la Légion Étrangère took place in Castelnaudary, a town in southern France. This prestigious annual event, free and open to runners of all genders, attracted nearly 1,000 participants for the half marathon and 300 more for the 6.25 mi (10 km) race. As usual, it was organized by the 4th Foreign Regiment (4e RE), the school of the French Foreign Legion.
100 years ago, on September 17, 1925, the Foreign Legion held a Syrian village against thousands of Druze fighters during the Great Syrian Revolt. Their costly but decisive stand became the first major French victory of the conflict and one of the defining moments in the Legion’s history in the French Levant (Syria, Lebanon).
In late August 2025, 42 enlisted volunteers from the French Foreign Legion’s 4th Foreign Regiment (4e RE) officially became legionnaires after completing a demanding 34-mile (55 km) march and receiving the iconic White kepi during a solemn ceremony in Charbonnières-les-Vieilles, central France.
Read more4e RE: 2025 Remise de Kepi blanc in Charbonnières-les-Vieilles