Over the last few days, you may have noticed flashes of red
appear on people’s lapels and in shop windows. To many, the significance of
the poppy needs no explanation, but others of you may be less familiar with its symbolism.
Today is Remembrance Day, (also known as Poppy Day or
Armistice Day), the day when we remember those who lost their lives during the
two World Wars and other conflicts. On this day in 1918, the hostilities of
World War I formally ended on the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month.
The poppy has long been associated with Remembrance Day, but
how did this distinctive red flower come to be a symbol of remembrance of the
sacrifices made in past wars?
Scarlet corn poppies grow naturally in conditions of disturbed
earth throughout Western Europe. The destruction brought by the Napoleonic wars
of the early 19th Century transformed bare land into fields of blood red
poppies, growing around the bodies of the fallen soldiers.
In late 1914, the fields of Northern France and Flanders
were once again ripped open as World War I raged through the heart of Europe.
Once the conflict was over the poppy was one of the only plants to grow on the
otherwise barren battlefields.
The significance of the poppy as a lasting memorial symbol
to the fallen was realised by the Canadian surgeon John McCrae in his poem In
Flanders Fields. The poppy came to represent the immeasurable sacrifice made by
his comrades and quickly became a lasting memorial to those who died in World
War One and later conflicts. It was adopted by The Royal British Legion as the
symbol for their Poppy Appeal, in aid of those serving in the British Armed
Forces, after its formation in 1921.
Source: www.bbc.co.uk/remembrance/how/poppy.shtml
