The Remembrance Poppy

The remembrance poppy is an artificial flower that has been used since 1921 to commemorate military personnel who have died in war, and represents a common or field poppy. Inspired by the World War I poem "In Flanders Fields", and promoted by Moina Michael, they were first adopted by the American Legion to commemorate American soldiers killed in that war (1914–1918). They were then adopted by military veterans' groups in parts of the British Empire.

The remembrance poppy was inspired by the World War I poem "In Flanders Fields". Its opening lines refer to the many poppies that were the first flowers to grow in the churned-up earth of soldiers' graves in Flanders, a region of Belgium. It is written from the point of view of the dead soldiers and, in the last verse, they call on the living to continue the conflict. The poem was written by Canadian physician, Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae, on 3 May 1915 after witnessing the death of his friend, a fellow soldier, the day before. The poem was first published on 8 December 1915 in the London based magazine, Punch.

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.

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.

In 1918, Moina Michael, who had taken leave from her professorship at the University of Georgia to be a volunteer worker for the American YWCA, was inspired by the poem and published a poem of her own called "We Shall Keep the Faith". In tribute to McCrae's poem, she vowed to always wear a red poppy as a symbol of remembrance for those who fought and helped in the war. At a November 1918 YWCA Overseas War Secretaries' conference, she appeared with a silk poppy pinned to her coat and distributed 25 more to those attending. She then campaigned to have the poppy adopted as a national symbol of remembrance. At a conference in 1920, the National American Legion adopted it as their official symbol of remembrance. At this conference, Frenchwoman Anna E. Guérin was inspired to introduce the artificial poppies commonly used today. In 1921 she sent her poppy sellers to London, where the symbol was adopted by Field Marshal Douglas Haig, a founder of the Royal British Legion. It was also adopted by veterans' groups in Canada, Australia and New Zealand. James Fox notes that all of the countries who adopted the remembrance poppy were the "victors" of World War I.

Usage

Today, remembrance poppies are mostly used in the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia and New Zealand, countries which were formerly part of the British Empire to commemorate their servicemen and women killed in all conflicts. They are used to a lesser extent in the United States.

In the United Kingdom, remembrance poppies are sold by The Royal British Legion (RBL). This is a charity providing financial, social, political and emotional support to those who have served or who are currently serving in the British Armed Forces, and their dependants. They are sold on the streets by volunteers in the weeks before Remembrance Day. The remembrance poppy is the trademark of The Royal British Legion. The RBL state, "The red poppy is our registered mark and its only lawful use is to raise funds for the Poppy Appeal"; its yearly fundraising drive in the weeks before Remembrance Day. The RBL says these poppies are "worn to commemorate the sacrifices of our Armed Forces and to show support to those still serving today". Other poppy merchandise is sold throughout the year as part of the ongoing fundraising.

In England, Wales, and Northern Ireland, the poppies typically have two red paper petals mounted on a green plastic stem with a single green paper leaf and a prominent black plastic central boss. The stem has an additional branch used to anchor the poppy via a pin in the lapel or buttonhole. In Scotland, the poppies are curled and have four petals with no leaf. The yearly selling of poppies is a major source of income for the RBL in the UK. The poppy has no fixed price; it is sold for a donation or the price may be suggested by the seller. The black plastic centre of the poppy was marked "Haig Fund" until 1994 but is now marked "Poppy Appeal". A team of about 50 people most of them disabled former British military personnel work all year round to make millions of poppies at the Poppy Factory Richmond. Scottish poppies are made in the Lady Haig's Poppy Factory in Edinburgh.

For many years after World War I, poppies were worn only on Remembrance Day itself. However, today the RBL's "Poppy Appeal" has a higher profile than any other charity appeal in the UK. The poppies are widespread from late October until mid-November every year and are worn by the general public, politicians, the Royal Family and other public figures. It has become common to see large poppies on buses, tube trains and aeroplanes as well as on lampposts, billboards, public buildings and landmarks. Many newspapers and magazines show a poppy on their cover page, and some social network users add poppies to their avatars. Each year, an official Poppy Appeal single has been released. Celebrities have begun wearing expensive crystal-clad poppy brooches, or 'bling poppies', which are sold by the RBL. There are thousands of poppy sellers on the streets and numerous fundraising events; such as concerts, fairs, marathons and competitions. There are also many other events to raise awareness. For example, in 2011, a Second World War plane dropped 6,000 poppies over the town of Yeovil in Somerset. In 2014, the dry moat of the Tower of London was covered with 888,246 ceramic poppies, one for each soldier of the British Empire killed in World War I.

In the United States, the Veterans of Foreign Wars conducted the first nationwide distribution of remembrance poppies before Memorial Day in 1922. Today, the American Legion Auxiliary distributes crepe-paper poppies in exchange for donations around Memorial Day and Veterans Day.

In Hong Kong, which was formerly part of the British Empire the poppy is worn by some participants on Remembrance Sunday each year. It is not generally worn by the public, although The Royal British Legion's Hong Kong and China Branch sells poppies to the public in a few places in Hong Kong only.

Since 2014, the Ukrainians have worn the poppy as a symbol of the Victory over Nazism and commemoration of the victims of World War II. It has largely replaced the Ribbon of Saint George, which became associated with pro-Russian separatists and Russian military aggression. A poppy logo was designed by Serhiy Mishakin and contains the text: "1939-1945 Never Again".

In parts of Pakistan, the 'Great War Company' hold a private ceremony each 11 November where red poppies are worn, by descendants of World War I veterans from the old British Indian Army.

In Albania, government representatives, including Prime Minister Edi Rama, wore the Remembrance Poppy during the commemoration ceremonies for the 70th Anniversary of the Liberation of Albania.

Other designs and purposes

White poppies

Some people choose to wear white poppies as a pacifist alternative to the red poppy. The white poppy and white poppy wreaths were introduced by Britain's Co-operative Women's Guild in 1933. Today, white poppies are sold by Peace Pledge Union or may be home-made. The white poppy may be worn alone or alongside the red poppy. According to the Peace Pledge Union, it symbolizes remembrance of all casualties of war including civilian casualties, and non-British casualties, to stand for peace, and not to glamorize war.

Purple poppies

To commemorate animal victims of war, Animal Aid in Britain has issued a purple poppy, which can be worn alongside the traditional red one, as a reminder that both humans and animals have been – and continue to be – victims of war. Recently, the purple poppy was replaced by a purple paw symbol that can be worn all year round. This was because people saw the poppy as implying animals had given their lives as heroes in the service of human beings. Animal Aid regards animals of having their lives taken by the abuse of humans in war, not given by the animals as could be the case with people who have the capacity to decide for themselves.

On the 11th April 2017 a UK based animal charity Sasha Animal Foundation announced that it was to introduce its own Purple Poppy with a different design, stating: "We will be adhering to the stance that animals are victims of war and not heroes."

Protests and controversy

A 2010 Remembrance Day ceremony in London was disrupted by members of the radical Islamist Muslims Against Crusades group, who were protesting against British Army actions in Afghanistan and Iraq. They burnt large poppies and chanted "British soldiers burn in hell" during the two-minute silence. Two of the men were arrested and charged for threatening behaviour. One was convicted and fined ￡50. The same group planned to hold another protest in 2011, but was banned by the Home Secretary the day before the planned protest. In 2014, a campaign was begun to encourage Muslim women to wear poppy hijabs. Some criticized it as a "shrouded loyalty test" which implied that Muslims needed to prove their loyalty to Britain.

In recent years, other people have been arrested in the UK for burning remembrance poppies. In November 2011 a number of people were arrested in Northern Ireland after a picture of two youths burning a poppy was posted on Facebook. The picture was reported to police by a member of the RBL. The following year, a young Canterbury man was arrested for allegedly posting a picture of a burning poppy on Facebook, on suspicion of an offence under the Malicious Communications Act.

British Prime Minister David Cameron rejected a request from Chinese officials to remove his poppy during his visit to Beijing on Remembrance Day 2010. The poppy was deemed offensive because it was mistakenly assumed to be connected with the Anglo-Chinese Opium Wars of the 19th century, after which the Qing Dynasty was forced to tolerate the British opium trade in China and to cede Hong Kong to the UK. However, Cameron wore a poppy in 2015 when he met Chinese President Xi Jinping in London.

In 2011 it was revealed that Kleshna, one of two businesses selling its own poppies on the RBL website, gives only 10% of its sales to charity. Kleshna sells crystal-clad poppy jewellery which has been worn by celebrities on television.

In 2012 there was controversy when The Northern Whig public house in Belfast refused entry to a man wearing a remembrance poppy. Although the owners apologised, the customer took the matter to court, supported by the Equality Commission for Northern Ireland (ECNI). The case was significant for the decision supporting the view of the ECNI that "The poppy, although not directly linked to a specific religious belief or political opinion, would historically have been associated to a greater extent with the Protestant or unionist community in Northern Ireland".

In the media

In the British media, public figures have been attacked for not wearing poppies. British journalist and newsreader Charlene White has faced racist and sexist abuse for not wearing a poppy on-screen. She explained "I prefer to be neutral and impartial on screen so that one of those charities doesn't feel less favoured than another". Newsreader Jon Snow does not wear a poppy on-screen for similar reasons. He too was criticized and he condemned what he saw as "poppy fascism". Well-known war-time journalist Robert Fisk published in November 2011 a personal account about the shifting nature of wearing a poppy, titled "Do those who flaunt the poppy on their lapels know that they mock the war dead?". While all newsreaders in the UK are expected to wear the remembrance poppy, those on the BBC's international news service are told not to. The BBC say this is because the symbol is not widely recognized overseas. The Royal British Legion condemned this, insisting that the poppy is the "international symbol of remembrance".

In the run-up to Remembrance Day, it has become common for UK football teams to play with artificial poppies sewn to their shirts, at the request of the Royal British Legion. This has caused some controversy.

During the 2018 FIFA World Cup Qualifiers

The England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland football teams were fined for displaying the poppy during matches. FIFA rules forbid the display of "political or religious symbols" The decision was strongly criticised by Prime Minister Theresa May, and the Welsh and English football associations appealed against the fine, with the English Football Association threatening to bring the matter to the Court of Arbitration for Sport.