It is an offspring of the bande de Picardie under the Ancien Régime, and one of the five oldest regiments in France.

It particularly distinguished itself, as the 1ère Demi-Brigade d'Infanterie de Ligne, during the French Revolutionary Wars at the Battles of Fleurus (1794), Messkirch (1800) and Biberach (1800).

The flag bears the names of the battle in which the 1st Infantry Regiment took part for the French Republic: Valmy 1792, Fleurus 1794, Moeskirch 1800, Biberach 1800, Miliana 1842, Guise 1914, Verdun-l'Yser 1916–1917, La Somme 1916, L'Ourcq 1918, Résistance Berry 1944, AFN 1952–1962.

During the Napoleonic Wars the regiment fought at the battles of Caldiero, Wagram, Salamanca, Lützen, Bautzen, Dresden, Leipzig, Montmirail, Vauchamps, Quatre Bras and Waterloo.

[1] The Fourragère of the Médaille militaire was attributed on 10 September 1918, and presented by General Castelneau on 19 October 1918 in Alsace, after the regiment was mentioned in dispatches at the order of the Army for the fourth time.