Culture Corner: Remembrance Day / Poppy Day

 

For almost 100 years, people from Canada, the United States, Britain, France, Belgium, Australia, New Zealand and other Commonwealth countries have worn the red poppy as a symbol of Remembrance Day.

This simple red flower continues to be one of most visible ways  people can show that they remember and thank the millions of men and women who gave up their lives for their countries in World War 1, World War 11 and all other wars.

The the association between the poppy and war dead goes back to the Napoleonic Wars in the early 1800s  when  soldiers noted how poppies seemed  to flourish on the graves of soldiers who had died in battle in Flanders, a region of northern France and Belgium.

In 1915, McCrae, a medical officer serving near Ypres in Belgium, made the same connection between the fields of poppies and  the young soldiers who had been killed in  battle.  This inspired the immortal poem, In Flanders Field, which he wrote during a break from working with the wounded.

The poem, one that almost every Canadian, British, Australian and New Zealand  child can recite from memory, reflects what he McCrae  saw and heard with his own eyes and ears while working to save dying and injured soldiers during a particularly deadly battle in Ypres, Belgium.

Why Should You Wear A Poppy?

First, wearing a poppy is one very visible way to show respect and admiration for the men and women who  sacrificed their lives in order to help us retain the freedom and rights we take for granted.

Also  when you buy and wear a poppy, you will be helping military families, former veterans in need and their families.