Let's not forget Remembrance Day
November 11th, Poppy Day, Remembrance Day, Henry and I just wanted to take a moment to mention today. Across the UK, poppies are worn each year to mark Remembrance events and honour those who lost their lives in two world wars and other conflicts.
Don’t worry about sounding professional. Sound like you. There are over 1.5 billion websites out On this day, as well as Remembrance Sunday, the poppy is a frequent sight throughout. The Royal British Legion run two major campaigns that raise funds from poppy sales to support current and former members of the armed forces and their families.
The poppy became a symbol of loss and hope—a reminder of the sacrifice made by those who lost their lives or sustained life changing injuries in conflict and offer hope for the future. In 1915, Canadian doctor Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae wrote his famous war poem, In Flanders Fields, following the devastation he witnessed on the battlefields in Ypres, Belgium.
Inspired, Anna Guérin, a French teacher turned war effort fundraiser, began selling poppies on designated days from September 1919. She then addressed the American, Canadian and British legions to ask for the poppy to be acknowledged as the Remembrance emblem. In 1921, the Royal British Legion ordered a million poppies from Anna Guérin in France and commissioned a further 8 million to be manufactured in Britain.
They were made from silk and were sold on this day in the first ever Poppy Appeal. The tradition has carried on ever since, though the silk has been consigned to history. A leaf was first introduced in the 1960s, and they slowly became an optional extra. By 1984, demand for them had grown to 12 million a year, and in 1995, poppies with leaves included were made available for the first time.
In response to increasing demand for sustainability, in 2023, the legion began producing fully recyclable paper poppies. Interestingly, the Scottish poppy does not have a green leaf and has four-lobed petals, while the poppy in England and Wales features two.
The simple act of wearing a poppy sends a personal message of thanks and support for the Armed Forces community to see, and we ask the public not to underestimate the impact that wearing a poppy has for those who serve, and their families. So, let's take some time today to think about our history and where it has led us to on this important day
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Thanks for reading,
David and Henry
