Remembrance poppies: Why Britain commemorates war dead with artificial flowers
Now that November is here, Brits are beginning to wear the traditional red poppy as it gears up for Remembrance Day.
The artificial flower is worn by millions to show respect for fallen soldiers who have bravely fought and died on behalf of UK citizens.
Nowadays, the paper and plastic design has been joined by poppy badges, broaches - known as âbling poppiesâ - car attachments and computer designs on social media.
But why exactly are poppies used for the annual service - and when did the practice begin?
In the UK, wearing a poppy to commemorate soldiers who have died in wars first began in 1921, three years after the end of World War I.
Poignant: John McCrae wrote about poppy fields in his WW1 poem In Flanders Fields (Wikipedia)
The idea to use the bright red flower came from the poem âIn Flanders Fieldsâ, written by Canadian surgeon John McCrae in 1915 - during the First World War.
The opening lines read:
âIn Flanders fields the poppies blow Between the crosses, row on row, That mark our place; and in the sky The larks, still bravely singing, fly Scarce heard amid the guns below.â
These lines refer to how poppies grow naturally on disturbed earth - like in times of war.
Blood red: Poppies grow naturally on disturbed earth after times of war, like these fields in France (Rex)
Bare land on Flanders, that covers part of Belgium, were coloured blood red by the poppies over the destroyed ground of soldierâs graves from the Napoleonic wars of the 19th century.
During WW1, this earth was once again destroyed by fighting, with the bodies of soldiers falling on the same ground.
And, once again, poppies grew on the same spot, often around the bodies themselves and, as highlighted by the poem, became a symbol for military personnel that died in battle.
Symbol: The poppy represented those who died in conflict since 1914 (Getty)
But it was US professor Moina Michael who, while acting as a volunteer for the American YWCA in 1918, felt inspired by In Flanders Fields and wrote a poem called âWe Shall Keep The Faithâ where she promised to always wear a poppy to remember the dead, writing:
âAnd now the Torch and Poppy Red We wear in honour of our dead.â
Michael wore a silk poppy attached to her coat at a War Secretaries conference, giving more out to 25 attendees and she went on to successfully campaign for it to be adopted as a national symbol of remembrance by the National American Legion.
French-woman Anna E. GuĂŠrin was inspired to introduce the artificial poppies at a conference in 1920 and after sending poppy sellers to London in 1921, Field Marshal Douglas Haig, a founder of the Royal British Legion adopted the flower that is still used in Britain today.
Honoured: poppy wreaths are laid by politicians every Remembrance Sunday (Rex)
The first official Legion Poppy Day was held in Britain on November 11, 1921 - Armistice Day - and the tradition has been adopted ever since.
The simple design of the artificial flower is not an accident - in fact, they were originally designed so that someone who had lost the use of one hand could make them.
Today they are made at the Poppy Factory in Richmond, who employs approximately 30 disabled veterans and disabled dependents of ex-Service personnel.
Charity: Millions of poppies are sold every year to raise money for injured servicemen (Rex)
Along with with around 30 home workers, the factory produce a staggering 11 million poppies for the annual Remembrance Day appeal.
The original version of the poppy emblem did not have a leaf, much like the flower itself.
However, demand for leaves went up after they were first introduced in the 1960s and in1984 demand for leaves had grown to 12 million a year prompting the Poppy Factory to produce leaves as a mass produced item, but still issued separately to the poppy.
It wasnât until 1995 that poppies were offered with leaves for the very first time.
These days more intricate and creative versions of the flower are used alongside the traditional artificial form, especially by public figures like politicians who are expected to wear them as a mark of respect.
Jewellery: More intricate and sparkly designs are increasingly used as well as the traditional artificial flowers (Rex)
However, there are some people who choose not to wear them as they see them as potentially glorifying or justifying current wars.
West Bromwich Albion footballer James McClean said last year that he would not be wearing the poppy on his match shirt.
The 27-year-old Irishman said at the time that âbecause of the history where I come from in Derry, I cannot wear something that represents that [British conflicts].â
Protest: Irish footballer James McClean has previously refused to wear a poppy (Rex)
Channel 4 newsreader Jon Snow has also refused to wear them on screen, arguing that he does in his private life but would not wear anything which ârepresents any kind of statementâ on air.
And only this week Fifa said it was against regulations for England footballers to wear poppies on their kits - something that Prime Minister Theresa May described as âoutrageousâ.
But players are set to defy these rules when they play Scotland on Remembrance Sunday, according to the FA.
Alternative: White poppies are sometimes worn by pacifists in an attempt to promote peace (Rex)
Others choose to protest war by wearing white poppies, which were introduced by Britain's Co-operative Women's Guild in 1933.
These flowers are often worn by pacifists, including by current Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, who last year was embroiled in controversy when he refused to say whether he would wear the white poppy for the wreath-laying ceremony on Remembrance Sunday.
A purple poppy was also introduced in 2006 to remember the animal victims of war, with proceeds going to Animal Aid, while money raised from traditional red poppies go to the British Legion and used to help injured soldiers and their families.
Top pic: Wikipedia
