Poppy wreaths are not “prettified and toothless” (Letters, 31 October), they do make a valid point; but to claim neutrality for the red poppy is being disingenuous. The American Moina Michael, whose idea it was in 1918 to use the red poppy to commemorate the fallen, took her inspiration from Lt Col John McCrae’s We Shall Not Sleep, now better known as In Flanders Field, which includes the unequivocal line “Take up our quarrel with the foe”.
When the red poppy came to be adopted in Britain three years later, it was promoted by the British Legion under their founding president General Douglas Haig in order to raise funds for British service personnel and their families. So yes, there may be some inference of the red poppy being partisan.
In order to commemorate all the war dead, might I suggest that, like Green party MP Caroline Lucas on BBC’s Question Time, you wear a white poppy at the same time (www.ppu.org.uk). Bravo, Ms Lucas.
Austen Lynch
Garstang, Lancashire
• Melanie Henwood’s intemperate diatribe against Jonathan Jones’s reaction to the red poppies at the Tower of London (guardianonline, 28 October) misses the point. The significance of the red poppy has been devalued by using it as a symbol of “sacrifice” and “honour” instead of solemn remembrance and a determination to end war. The Festival of Remembrance and the Remembrance Sunday ceremony at the Cenotaph have been turned into militaristic occasions to encourage recruiting and forget the inhumanity of warfare. Does the British Legion still carry advertisements for arms dealers in the back of the programme for the Festival of Remembrance?
Tony Augarde
Oxford
