Foreign legion

Foreign legion or Foreign Legion is a title which has been used by a small number of military units composed of foreign volunteers.

It usually refers to the French Foreign Legion, part of the French Army, established in 1831.

It can also refer to:

In military

 * Polish Legions, several Polish military units that served with the French Army from the 1790s to the 1810s.
 * Portuguese Legion, a Portuguese military force integrated in Napoleon's Imperial Armies, mobilized after the occupation of Portugal, in 1807.
 * King's German Legion (KGL), a British Army unit of expatriate German personnel during the Napoleonic Wars
 * Russian–German Legion, a Russian Army unit of expatriate German personnel during the Napoleonic Wars
 * Foreign volunteers, a general term for troops joining a foreign army
 * Mahal (Israel), foreigners serving in the Israeli army, both during the 1948 war of independence as well as in the present IDF
 * Spanish Legion, a quasi-independent unit of the Spanish Army originally intended as an equivalent to the French Foreign Legion
 * Brigade of Gurkhas, light infantry unit of the British Army largely manned by ethnic Nepali.

The title Foreign Legion has been applied commonly but unofficially to:
 * Royal Dutch East Indies Army (KNIL), informally known as "Dutch Foreign Legion" (1830–1950)
 * Rhodesian Light Infantry, informally known as "Rhodesian Foreign Legion" (1961–1980)
 * International Legion, created in 1860 by Giuseppe Garibaldi
 * International brigades, of the Spanish Civil War
 * Recruited Foreigners Regiment, Värvat främlingsregemente, Swedish Regiment made up of Polish deserters during the Great Northern War

In culture

 * Foreign Legion (band), a punk band from Wales
 * Foreign Legion (album), a 2002 album by Murfreesboro
 * Foreign Legion (Tin Hat album), a 2010 album by Tin Hat
 * Foreign Legion (hip hop crew), a hip hop crew from Oakland, California
 * Foreign Legion (wrestling) (La Legión Extranjera), a loosely affiliated group in Mexican wrestling
 * Foreign Legions, a 2001 anthology edited by David Drake