The Médaille de l'enfance et des familles (), formerly known as the Médaille de la Famille française () is a decoration awarded by the

government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a State (polity), state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive (government), execu ...

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

to honour those who have successfully raised several

child A child () is a human being between the stages of childbirth, birth and puberty, or between the Development of the human body, developmental period of infancy and puberty. The term may also refer to an unborn human being. In English-speaking ...

ren with dignity. The decoration was created by a

decree A decree is a law, legal proclamation, usually issued by a head of state, judge, monarch, royal figure, or other relevant Authority, authorities, according to certain procedures. These procedures are usually defined by the constitution, Legislativ ...

of May 26, 1920, under the name Médaille d'honneur de la famille française (), with the aim of honouring

mother A mother is the female parent of a child. A woman may be considered a mother by virtue of having given birth, by raising a child who may or may not be her biological offspring, or by supplying her ovum for fertilisation in the case of ges ...

s of large

families Family (from ) is a group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or affinity (by marriage or other relationship). It forms the basis for social order. Ideally, families offer predictability, structure, and safety as ...

. Although the medal rewards those with large families, the children must be "raised well" and the eldest must be at least 16 years old.

History

The decoration was created by a

of May 26, 1920, under the name ''Médaille d'honneur de la famille française'' (Medal of Honour of the French Family) with the aim of honouring

s of large

. The text of the decree underwent several changes before being completely reformed by a decree of October 28, 1982, which renamed the decoration ''Médaille de la Famille française'' (Medal of the French Family). This decree came into force on January 1, 1983, and was completed by an ''arrêté'' (administrative order) of March 15, 1983. The reform opened the award of the decoration to

father A father is the male parent of a child. Besides the paternal bonds of a father to his children, the father may have a parental, legal, and social relationship with the child that carries with it certain rights and obligations. A biological fat ...

s and others who had raised several children in an appropriate way: for example, the

Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

priest A priest is a religious leader authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or more deity, deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in parti ...

Père Mayotte,

curate A curate () is a person who is invested with the ''care'' or ''cure'' () of souls of a parish. In this sense, ''curate'' means a parish priest; but in English-speaking countries the term ''curate'' is commonly used to describe clergy who are as ...

of the

parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christianity, Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest#Christianity, priest, often termed a parish pries ...

of Randan, Puy-de-Dôme was granted the award in recognition of his raising the six children of his housekeeper, a

widow A widow (female) or widower (male) is a person whose spouse has Death, died and has usually not remarried. The male form, "widower", is first attested in the 14th century, by the 19th century supplanting "widow" with reference to men. The adjecti ...

who died suddenly. In 2013, the award was referred as the médaille de la famille. The criteria of the awards were changed to 4 children for all medals instead of the previous multi-tiered approach. In 2016, the ability to receive the medal was extended to those living outside of France as long as the children they were raising were French. Since 2022, the award was officially renamed the Médaille de l'enfance et des familles in order to highlight the many different roles that can be had to promote children and family. As of 2023, the award now also calls to attention multiple avenues to receive the medal both for those living in France and abroad. This includes not only the raising 4 or more children, but also helping early childhood education or raising orphans.

Appearance

Prior to 2013, three classes of medal were awarded:

bronze Bronze is an alloy consisting primarily of copper, commonly with about 12–12.5% tin and often with the addition of other metals (including aluminium, manganese, nickel, or zinc) and sometimes non-metals (such as phosphorus) or metalloid ...

for those raising four or five children,

silver Silver is a chemical element; it has Symbol (chemistry), symbol Ag () and atomic number 47. A soft, whitish-gray, lustrous transition metal, it exhibits the highest electrical conductivity, thermal conductivity, and reflectivity of any metal. ...

for parents of six or seven children, and

gold Gold is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol Au (from Latin ) and atomic number 79. In its pure form, it is a brightness, bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile metal. Chemically, gold is a transition metal ...

for those with eight or more children. A bronze medal is also granted to widowed mothers of three children whose husbands have been killed in action. The recipient's eldest child must be at least sixteen years old. Since 2013, all awarded medals are made of bronze and recognize parents of families of 4 or more as well as those who have contributed greatly to early childhood education. The original medal was an eight pointed radiant star, with a central medallion depicting a mother holding a small child, surrounded by the inscription ''Famille Française'', ("French Family"). Since 1983 a circular medal has been awarded, bearing the words ''Famille Française'' above a modernistic image of a

couple Couple or couples may refer to: *Couple, a set of two of items of a type *Couple (mechanics), a pair of force which are equal in magnitude but opposite in direction and separated by a perpendicular distance so that their line of action do not co ...

and their children. The words "République Française" ("French Republic") are inscribed on the reverse side. The

ribbon A ribbon or riband is a thin band of material, typically cloth but also plastic or sometimes metal, used primarily as decorative binding and tying. Cloth ribbons are made of natural materials such as silk, cotton, and jute and of synthetic mate ...

of both versions is the same, and has three equal parts, the outer two being red and the inner green. Recipients of silver and gold medals are also granted a

rosette Rosette is the French diminutive of ''rose''. It may refer to: Flower shaped designs * Rosette (award), a mark awarded by an organisation * Rosette (design), a small flower design *hence, various flower-shaped or rotational symmetric forms: ** R ...

in the same colours.

Criteria

Recommendations or applications for the award must be deposited at the local

town hall In local government, a city hall, town hall, civic centre (in the UK or Australia), guildhall, or municipal hall (in the Philippines) is the chief administrative building of a city, town, or other municipality. It usually houses the city o ...

. An enquiry into the family is then conducted. If the enquiry reports positively, the final decision on whether to grant the award belongs to the

prefect Prefect (from the Latin ''praefectus'', substantive adjectival form of ''praeficere'': "put in front", meaning in charge) is a magisterial title of varying definition, but essentially refers to the leader of an administrative area. A prefect' ...

of the department. While the award has always been open to mothers raising families alone, and to other

single parent A single parent is a person who has a child or children but does not have a spouse or live-in partner to assist in the upbringing or support of the child. Reasons for becoming a single parent include death, divorce, break-up, abandonment, bec ...

s and

legal guardian A legal guardian is a person who has been appointed by a court or otherwise has the legal authority (and the corresponding duty) to make decisions relevant to the personal and property interests of another person who is deemed incompetent, ca ...

s since the 1982 reforms, this applies only in cases of widowhood or abandonment: the medal is only granted to

divorce Divorce (also known as dissolution of marriage) is the process of terminating a marriage or marital union. Divorce usually entails the canceling or reorganising of the legal duties and responsibilities of marriage, thus dissolving the M ...

d parents in the most exceptional circumstances. The medal may be awarded

posthumous Posthumous may refer to: * Posthumous award, an award, prize or medal granted after the recipient's death * Posthumous publication, publishing of creative work after the author's death * Posthumous (album), ''Posthumous'' (album), by Warne Marsh, 1 ...

ly, provided that the application is made within two years of the recipient's death.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Medaille de la famille francaise Natalist awards Civil awards and decorations of France

History

Appearance

Criteria

See also

References