The Poppy’s Appeal How the humble poppy came to symbolise remembrance and raise millions to help
war veterans
2014 marks the 100th anniversary of the outbreak of the First World War. More than nine million soldiers were killed during the four-year conflict. Much of the worst fighting took place in Flanders, the western part of Belgium. The whole area was completely devastated, with homes, farms, roads and trees all completely destroyed. The land became a bleak, muddy graveyard for the thousands of soldiers who fell there.
One plant, however, thrived in the disturbed soil and that, of course, was the poppy. Year after year, as the warm weather arrived, the poppies bloomed and turned the bare ground into a sea of red. Nowadays, we are all familiar with the poppy as a symbol of remembrance and a way to raise funds to support veterans. But how did the iconic flower make the journey from the fields to our lapels?
It all began with Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae, a Canadian physician who fought in Flanders. In May 1915, his friend, a fellow soldier, was killed in action. Looking at the poppies growing alongside his grave moved McCrae to write the poem ‘In Flanders Fields’, which was later published in Punch magazine.
The idea to use the poppy as a symbol of remembrance came from an American professor and YWCA worker, Moina Michael, in 1918. She wrote a poem in reply to McCrae’s
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called ‘We Shall Keep the Faith’ and started to sell silk poppies. The idea was adopted by the American Legion in 1920 and she became known as ‘The Poppy Lady’.
In 1921, Anna E Guerin started making artificial poppies in France and gained the support of Field Marshal Douglas Haig, founder of the Royal British Legion.
The first poppy appeal was held on Armistice Day 1921. It was hugely popular and, despite a recommended selling price of threepence per poppy, single petals sold for £5. In all, the appeal raised £106,000 – that’s nearly £30 million in today’s terms!
Some people choose to wear a white poppy, either instead of or alongside a traditional red one.
This symbolises pacifism and
remembers the civilians killed in war, as well as the soldiers. The idea was initially put forward in 1926 by the No More War Movement, and the first white poppies were sold by the Cooperative Women’s Guild in 1933. They are now distributed by the Peace Pledge Union, a British pacifist non- governmental organisation that works for a world without war.
And finally, did you know that there is also a purple poppy? It commemorates the animals that have been victims of war and raises money for Animal Aid.
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