King Louis XV initially created the Institution du Mérite militaire as an award, but not as an order, because French orders were exclusive Catholics.

[1] The three classes of the Institution du Mérite militaire, which were decreed in 1785, were Knight, Commander or Gran Cordon and Grand Cross, the latter limited to four and two receivers, respectively.

[2] King Louis was careful to promote the prestige of the award by appointing the most talented officers.

One of the first Grand Crosses was received by William Henry, Prince of Nassau-Saarbrücken.

[3] In 1791, during the French Revolution, the Order of Military Merit was incorporated into the Order of St. Louis to create a single Décoration Militaire, to which King Louis XVIII of France made appointments until he on 28 November 1814 reinstituted the Order of Military Merit, and increased the number of available Grand Crosses to four and the number of available Grand Cordons to eight, and changed the colour of their sash to that of the Order of St. Louis.