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Edinburgh Live
Edinburgh Live
World
Sophie Buchan

What the Remembrance Day poppy represents and why people wear it in November

This month we are set to commemorate those who have fought and lost their lives to conflicts across the world.

Each November, people purchase the poppy to wear it as a sign of respect with it being a symbol of both Remembrance and hope for a peaceful future.

According to the Royal British Legion, they are also worn as a show of support for the Armed Forces community.

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They add: "The poppy is a well-known and well-established symbol, one that carries a wealth of history and meaning with it. Wearing a poppy is still a very personal choice, reflecting individual experiences and personal memories. It is never compulsory but is greatly appreciated by those who it is intended to support."

But what is the history behind the poppy?

During the first world war, a lot of the fighting took place in Western Europe and because of this, the countryside was blasted, bombed and fought over repeatedly which soon turned much of the area into a place where little or nothing could grow.

The British Legion add that there was a "notable and striking exception to the bleakness - the bright red Flanders poppies. These resilient flowers flourished in the middle of so much chaos and destruction, growing in the thousands upon thousands.

"Shortly after losing a friend in Ypres, a Canadian doctor, Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae was moved by the sight of these poppies and that inspiration led him to write the now famous poem 'In Flanders Fields'."

The poem is said to have inspired an American academic Moina Michael to adopt the poppy in memory of those who had died during the war and campaigned to get it adopted as an official symbol of Remembrance across the US.

She also worked with others who were trying to achieve the same in other locations - including the UK.

They continue: "Also involved with those efforts was a French woman, Anna Guérin who was in the UK in 1921 where she planned to sell the poppies in London. There she met Earl Haig, our founder, who was persuaded to adopt the poppy as our emblem in the UK. The Royal British Legion, which had been formed in 1921, ordered nine million poppies and sold them on 11 November that year."

You can visit the Poppy Shop through the Royal British Legion website or donate.

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