In the photograph above are 10 poppies from around the world. I took this photo during a visit to the Scottish National War Museum, which currently has a small exhibition on the history of remembrance.
In one case they had collected remembrance poppies from all over the world. From top to bottom, left to right they are:
1. Scotland, 2. England, Wales & Norther Ireland, 3. France, 4. Belgium, 5. Ukraine, 6. the US, 7. Canada, 8. Newfoundland, 9. Australia, 10. New Zealand
The wearing of the poppy varies from country to country depending on tradition. In the UK it is extremely common for many people to wear them in the run up to the 11th November while in other countries it is less so.
The idea of wearing a poppy to commemorate the end of the Great War, and subsequent wars, began in 1921. The symbol of the poppy was chosen in reference to Lieutenant-Colonel John McCrae’s poem ‘In Flanders Fields’ and following a campaign by Moina Michael the National American Legion adopted the poppy in 1920. In the UK its estimated that over 30 million poppies are made and sold each year. The money raised by the Royal British Legion, the charity established in May 1921 that sells them, is then used to assist veterans.
Note that the French “poppy” is of course a cornflower, which is based on the French uniform starting in 1915. Fabric and paper cornflowers started being manufactured during the war by crippled veterans as organized by war widows to provide a small income, and has since become a symbol of solidarity and remembrance.
