Red Poppies, Remembrance Day & Tattoos

I always like to know the stories behind traditions, it's a bit of a fascination I have and I guess it is just my way of trying to connect with it. That is why today I decided to investigate a little bit more about why we wear red poppies. It is actually quite an interesting tale so please just take a few moments to read, I also learnt along the way that many people display the poppies upon their bodies to be a constant reminder.Please read with me and remember our fallen soldiers.  


To me wearing a red poppy on Remembrance Day was important for a couple of reasons, 1. it is a way of fundraising for the families of fallen soldiers and 2. it is a sign of respect for those who have served us both in our past, present and for those who have fallen doing so. Today as we watch TV, listen to the radio or read stories online via Twitter, Facebook, Blogs and New Media sites you will most probably see a story about Remembrance Day and you should see those people wearing a red poppies. Days like this always make me feel a little bit sad but really bloody lucky that I have had men like these who have stood before my time to protect our country or help others protect theirs. To some I am sure that the red poppies are just another type of flower you can grow in your garden or as I learn get tattooed on your body, but to Australian's and many other countries who have fought in wars the Flanders poppy is the flower of Remembrance Day. This flower marks Armistice of 11 November 1918, when the two fighting parties decided to temporarily cease fire. We are also increasingly seeing the flower used across ANZAC Day too. 

During WWI red poppies were said to be the first thing that appeared on the battlefields in North France and Belgium. The folklore of Soldiers tells us that the red colouring comes from the blood of their fellow soldiers. In 1915 Lieutenant Colonel John McCrea wrote a poem  In Flanders Fields. 

They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old;

Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.

At the going down of the sun and in the morning

We will remember them.

Until this poem was written poppies were known for either sleep or a state of oblivion, but now it stands for sacrifice and as many diggers say for their mates lost at war and since coming home from its affects. I always have heard to that many also say it is all about future as well. 

The story goes that the poem was read by one Monia Micheal an America YMCA employee, who then decided to wear a red poppy as a way of always keeping the faith. She then discussed the poem at a YMCA secretaries meeting  of countries around the world in November 1918, this is where the French secretary Anna Guérin decided to raise money for soldiers and their families.

Here in Australia our first poppy was sold in 1921 by The Australian Returned Soldiers and Sailors Imperial League after it was accepted by allied nations for the flower to be worn on Remembrance Day. Today poppies are also widely seen in wreaths on Anzac day, this traditional started when at at Dawn Service in Palestine in 1940 soldiers put poppies on the Stone of Remembrance as they marched passed. A Senior Australian Officer also layed a wreath of freshly picked poppies. We also see the poppies placed on the Roll of Honour as a personal tribute to the fallen soldier, this began after the funeral of an unknown Aussie solider was laid to rest on 11 November 1993. As members of the public waited to lay a flower on his tomb  they stood along the Roll of Honour and placed their poppies along side soldiers names. 

So to those Diggers today past, present and fallen Thank You for protecting us. War is something that is hard to understand a lot of the time and I know everyone has their own personal opinion on it. I do feel though that with out these good men and women things could be very different today. I don't think you need to support a war to support your soldiers and their families so if you agree please go out there and buy some poppies and wear them and remember why we do it. I have several friends who are in several areas of the Australian Forces and I especially wanted to say thanks to them today and Thank You to their families too.

 My husband Metal dad australiA wrote this today on his  facebook and I thought it was worth sharing. By the way if you haven't checked out his blog or his facebook page please go and support my man. 

Today is remembrance day, a day to reflect on the sacrifices past 

generations have made for our generations! Support the troops 

and their families, not the politicians and religious leaders 

creating wars.

{image source}

↑ Grab this Headline Animator