The Poppy's Legacy: Honouring Sacrifice on Remembrance Day

Remembrance Day is a time for us to reflect on the service and sacrifice of all those who have defended our freedoms and protected our way of life. We also take the opportunity to pay tribute to those currently serving and to acknowledge innocent civilians who have lost their lives in conflict. Remembrance does not glorify war and its symbol, the red poppy, is a sign of both remembrance and hope for a peaceful future. In our latest blog post, we look into the significance of the poppy and what it symbolises:

The Poppy

Poppies are worn to show support to the armed forces community, past and present. Wearing a Poppy is a personal choice and carries a wealth of history.

How did it become such a symbol?

During WW1 much fighting took place in Western Europe. The countryside was blasted, and landscapes turned bleak and barren where nothing could grow.

There was a notable exception to the bleakness – the resilient red Flanders Poppies which flourished despite the chaos and destruction.

The sight of this is what led Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae to write the now infamous poem “In Flanders Fields” (read the poem in full below).

American academic Moina Michael was inspired by the poem and campaigned to adopt it as an official symbol of remembrance in America. She worked with others doing the same in the UK Canada and Australia.

Earl Haig, who founded the British Legion in 1921, ordered nine million poppies to sell on 11th November that year. They sold out immediately and that was dubbed the first ‘poppy appeal’, raising ￡106,000 (a considerable sum at the time). This year’s poppy appeal sees 40,000 volunteers distribute 40 million poppies!

2023 saw the introduction of the new plastic-free poppy, the first time in 28 years that the poppy was changed. The paper used in production is made up of 50% of fibres from waste used in the production of coffee cups. More than 4 miles of paper are produced every year to create the poppy.

What do the different coloured poppies mean?

Red: Memorial to World War 1 and following conflicts

Purple: Remembering animal victims of war

Black: Commemorates contributions of black, African, and Caribbean communities to the war efforts.

White: Remembers people who die in conflict with a focus on an end to war

Please make a donation for a poppy to support the work the legion does. The poppy appeal funds their important lifelong support to serving and ex-serving personnel, and their families.

In Flanders Fields

In Flanders fields the poppies blow

Between the crosses, row on row,

That mark our place; and in the sky

The larks, still bravely singing, fly

Scarce heard amid the guns below.

?

We are the Dead. Short days ago

We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,

Loved and were loved, and now we lie,

In Flanders fields.

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Take up our quarrel with the foe:

To you from failing hands we throw

The torch; be yours to hold it high.

If ye break faith with us who die

We shall not sleep, though poppies grow

In Flanders fields.

-John McCrae