What is the story of the gold necklace that Macron received during his inauguration for a second term?

Outgoing French President Emmanuel Macron received today, Saturday, the Legion of Honor National Medal during his inauguration for a second 5-year term, during a modest ceremony at the Elysee Palace.

Macron is the first president to win two consecutive terms in two decades, but he has not yet announced who will be assigned the post of prime minister in his new term.

During the ceremony, Macron, like all presidents, was awarded the Legion of Honor, a highly symbolic piece considered the jewel of the republic and symbolizing “the continuity of the state.”

The medal is a necklace made of pure gold weighing 952 grams, and it is presented on a red cushion. Made up of 16 links, each link represents a major activity of French society, and contains two letters in the middle “HP”, meaning “Honneur et patrie”, meaning “honor and country”.

Far from being a simple distinction, “the necklace of the Legion of Honor is not a decoration, but a sign of the great responsibility that the newly elected President of the Republic bears.”