When Belgium became independent of the Netherlands, there was an urgent need to create a national honour system that could serve as a diplomatic gift.

The national congress provided this exclusive right to the sovereign, this military honour system was written in Article 76.

[1] The first King of the Belgians, Leopold I of Belgium, used his constitutional right in a larger way than foreseen: not only military merit, but every service in honour of the Kingdom.

The king approved the colour and grades both civil and military, and the official motto L'Union fait la Force/Eendracht maakt Macht.

On the 11th of June 1832 the law was promulgated, and the exact colours were defined; Article 2: "Le ruban sera ponceau moiré".

The order was bestowed by King Leopold II on Prince Karl Anton of Hohenzollern and Ernst Gunther, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein as a personal marriage gift.

In 1878 the King named several diplomatic dignitaries Grand Cordon in honour of his silver wedding celebration, among them Vannutelli.

King Leopold II bestowed the order upon notable Belgian artists, generals and clergy.

His successors continued to bestow the Order; among the thousands of recipients are some famous people like Porfirio Díaz, Pope Leo XIII,[11] Mohamed Ennaceur, Pierre-Jean De Smet, Eugène Scribe, Alfred Belpaire, Victor Horta, Joseph Geefs, Gustave Van de Woestijne, Raymond Poincaré, Constant Permeke, Henry Morton Stanley, Lu Zhengxiang, Amschel Mayer Rothschild, Emile Claus, Fernand Khnopff, Paul Saintenoy, Joseph Jongen, Eugène Ysaÿe, Alfred Bastien, William-Adolphe Bouguereau, Antonio López de Santa Anna, Thomas Vinçotte, Mgr.

Rafael Merry del Val, John Browning, James Blyth, 1st Baron Blyth, Brand Whitlock, Charles Lindbergh, George S. Patton, Bernard Montgomery, Dwight Eisenhower, Wesley Clark, Charles de Gaulle, Mstislav Rostropovich, Count Kiyoura Keigo, Count Jacques Rogge, Prince Fulco Ruffo di Calabria and Prince Emmanuel de Merode.

After the Second World War, the Order of Leopold was bestowed on the several officers of foreign military forces who had helped to liberate Belgium from German occupation.

In 2015 some protest was noted when King Philippe offered the Grand Cordon to President Erdoğan of Turkey during his state visit in Belgium.

The Belgian Court has granted the Grand Cordon to all of its family members often considered a personal marriage gift of the king.

Following the tradition, it is not allowed that a Belgian minister can accept this gift from the King, during the period of public office.

[16] The collar of the order is in gold, with nine crowns, nine face-to-face monograms "LR" (for "Leopoldus Rex" for King Leopold I), and eighteen lions.

National orders are awarded by royal decree at fixed dates: 8 April (Birthday of King Albert I), 15 November (King's Feast), and in some cases on 21 July (Belgian national holiday) to reward meritorious services to the Kingdom of Belgium based on the career path and age of the recipient.

The royal decrees, except for conferrals on foreigners, are published in the Belgian Official Journal (Belgisch Staatsblad/Moniteur Belge).

Additional bonuses can be earned for service in the air (a heritage coming from King Albert who want to bestow extra credit upon the pilots in the first World War, who often faced great danger in a new and experimental military branch) or on the battlefield (during wartime) and years of service as a non-commissioned officer or as enlisted personnel count as half for the awards made to officers.