Acquired nobility

To speak of the Spanish Legion is to speak of modernity, of the vanguard, of manoeuvre and adaptability; but above all, of discipline, hardship and toughness, of comradeship and a clearly recognisable esprit de corps that sets its units and members apart from any others in our army, and even from those abroad. This is precisely what Acquired nobility reflects.

Over the Legion’s 100-year history, we can distinguish three phases. The earliest writings and images refer to the war in Morocco and bear the very romantic style characteristic of their time. In a second phase, corresponding to the Spanish Civil War, we find documents sometimes coloured by ideological aspects that are not essentially those of the Legion. Finally comes the modern phase, with a Legion that has been present in all the military conflicts of contemporary history and in every overseas mission of the Spanish Armed Forces.

This present-day reality of the Legion has been crucial in leading many Spaniards to see it afresh, appreciating the value of an institution always ready to give everything for others: risking lives on behalf of our country on international missions, helping to put out wildfires, cleaning oil from the beaches of Galicia… and, at the time of writing, helping the population in the common fight against Covid-19 through Operation Balmis.

The Legionary Creed, which every member must follow, is what truly distinguishes the Legion. It is a code with strongly defined military values; in essence, a kind of philosophical treatise, a philosophy of life. Inspired by rules of the purest morality, it places all men on an equal footing in practice, without divisions or privileges of caste or age, and binds them together through shared ideals regardless of race or belief.

It is the Legion’s spiritual foundation, the legionary’s guide to conduct and way of life. It is an extraordinary and unusual code, made humane by its very severity and toughness. It makes those who wear the uniform feel committed to one another through a sense of unity with the values expressed in its tenets, and undoubtedly transforms those who possess them into people set apart from the rest.