RED like timeworn blood, the poppy has become a symbol of Remembrance Day.
After the World War I, it was the first flower to spring up in the devastated battlefields of northern France and Belgium.
And tomorrow, as Newcastle remembers those who lost their lives to grant Australians their freedoms, poppies are expected to be laid at the cenotaph or worn proudly on the lapels of soldiers and their families.
It's a commemoration of the end of WWI and the armistice, marked at the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month with a moment of silence to remember those who died protecting the nation, City of Newcastle RSL sub-branch protocol and commemorative services director Graeme Reynolds said.
"This is a time-honoured ceremony where we stop and reflect on those Australian soldiers and personnel that went and fought and perhaps didn't make it back," he said.
"In a town or region like Newcastle and the Hunter, we're probably considered a garrison town because of our proximity to the RAAF base, Singleton Army base and our naval presence down on the wharf.
"We were fired upon by the Japanese in 1942 and guns were fired at Fort Scratchley on June 8, 1942 - it brings it all back into reflection that we aren't immune to war or what many of our families have been a part of who signed up to serve their nation."
The City of Newcastle RSL sub-branch ceremony will be held at Civic Park at 11am, starting with a flypast of an E-7A RAAF Wedgetail Aircraft low over the city travelling from the east to the west.
A poem will be read by Kotara High School students, along with a speech from Royal Australian Air Force Group Captain Amy Beck.
Wreaths will be laid around the Cenotaph and members of the public will be invited to lay floral tributes of their own.
Mr Reynolds said he expects a couple of hundred spectators on the day to not only see the flypast but to pay their respects to soldiers past and present.
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