David Cameron, television news presenters and football managers wear them. Oppositon leader Jeremy Corbyn, whose stance has been debated ever since he chose not to sing at a Battle of Britain memorial service last month, wore one at Prime Minister’s Questions on Wednesday.
The red poppy, as a symbol of remembrance and as a way of raising money for the Royal British Legion, has become part of the fabric of British life. According to the charity, the poppy “represents Remembrance of the past and hope for the future.”
In London on Thursday, commuters arriving at mainline railways stations would have found armed forces personnel helping out with the campaign.
Unveiling of our Remembrance sculpture comprising six 3m-high poppies @LondonWaterloo. Come and check it out! pic.twitter.com/PiZhd2bekH
— Royal British Legion (@PoppyLegion) October 29, 2015
The charity predict that 45 million people will wear a poppy this year.
A far fewer, but growing number of people choose to wear a white poppy. Produced and distributed by the Peace Pledge Union, a venerable pacifist organisation, the white poppy has long symbolised an explicitly anti-war stance. Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn has worn the white poppy alongside a red one when laying a wreath at a memorial in his home constituency, but is set to wear a red poppy at the at the Cenotaph on Remembrance Day.
Some see the white poppy as disrespectful to the sacrifice of past servicemen and women, though the British Legion “see no conflict in wearing the red poppy alongside the white poppy”.
But some have become uncomfortable with what they feel the red poppy now represents. “Remembrance Sunday has come to serve as a justification of war and exhortation to eternal vigilance,” the Peace Pledge Union organisation itself argues. “[The white poppy] urges us to have the courage of the conscientious objector of WW1 to resist the temptation to participate in the war machine.”
As Remembrance Sunday nears, we’d like to hear your own views of the significance of the poppy. Do you wear one? If so, which colour? Are you wearing one to pay tribute to a specific relative or memory, or does it have a more general meaning? Do you feel under any societal pressure to wear a red poppy, or do you feel it’s simply a matter of individual choice?
Share your thoughts and experiences in the form below. We’ll share a selection of your stories in our future coverage.
