What countries where poppies to remember their war dead

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Request for Question Clarification by politicalguru-ga on 06 Nov 2004 16:06 PST

Giovanni, 

Do you mean "In which countries do people wear poppies to remember
thsoe who died in wars?"

If so, do you need a full list of countries, or only few examples?

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Clarification of Question by giovanni65112-ga on 07 Nov 2004 15:32 PST

In Canada people wear poppies ( a red flower) on their shirts to
remember thier war dead. What other countries wear a poppy for the
same reason?

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Clarification of Question by giovanni65112-ga on 09 Nov 2004 08:57 PST

Yes I need a complete list please
for example 
Canada
UK
Australia
???
??

Hey there giovanni65112,

In Australia, it is traditional to wear a red poppy on Remembrance Day
(November 11) to honour those who served and lost their lives.

" The Flanders poppy has been a part of Armistice or Remembrance Day
ritual since the early 1920s and is also increasingly being used as
part of ANZAC Day observances. During the First World War, the red
poppies were seen to be among the first living plants that sprouted
from the devastation of the battlefields of northern France and
Belgium. Soldiers' folklore had it that the poppies were vivid red
from having been nurtured in ground drenched with the blood of their
comrades."

http://www.awm.gov.au/commemoration/customs/poppies.htm



" Although red poppies are a symbol of Remembrance Day (Nov 11th) in
New Zealand they are more closely associated with ANZAC Day. They grew
wild on the European battlefields of WWI. One story has it that the
soldiers were able to look out from their battle trenches across these
fields of poppies and imagine that each represented a fallen soldier;
another which appears more credible is that poppies grew more easily
in the churned up soil of the battlefields making the blood red
flowers a potent symbol of the war. In New Zealand poppy buttonholes
are sold by volunteers on the weekday prior to ANZAC Day which is
known as Poppy Day and the proceeds go towards helping veterans, and
their families. This tradition started back in 1922. "

http://www.azmetro.com/nzanzac.html



" The first official Royal British Legion Poppy Day was held in
Britain on 11 November 1921, inspired by the poem In Flanders' Fields
written by John McCrae. Since then the Poppy Appeal has been a key
annual event in the nation's calendar.


In Flanders' Fields
John McCrae, 1915


In Flanders' fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place: and in the sky 
The larks, still bravely singing, fly 
Scarce heard amid the guns below.


We are the dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow, 
Loved and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders' fields.


Take up our quarrel with the foe;
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high,
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow 
In Flanders' Fields. "

http://www.poppy.org.uk/
 
Lest we forget,

* j *

PS. FYI, ANZAC stands for Australia and New Zealand Army Corps. Peace!

Hi Giovanni65112

Just to sum up the info I have found:

The poppy was adopted as the Flower of Remembrance for the war dead of
the allied countries: Britain, France, the United States, Canada and
other Commonwealth countries.

The use of the red poppy on Remembrance Day is most common in Britain,
Canada, Australia and New Zealand.

http://encyclopedia.thefreedictionary.com/Remembrance%20Day

peace,

* j *