The Poppy, Symbol of Remembrance
![The first Remembrance Day poppy, 1921 - CWM AN19720228-001](/web/20071116150045im_/http://www.warmuseum.ca/cwm/remember/images/1921poppy_19720228-001.jpg)
The first Remembrance Day poppy
The adoption of the poppy as a symbol of remembrance has international
origins. The first person to use it this way was Moina Michael, a member
of the staff of the American Overseas YMCA in the last year of the war.
Michael read McCrae's poem and was so moved that she composed one of her
own in response. She recalled later: "In a high moment of white resolve,
I pledged to keep the faith and always to wear a red
poppy of Flanders Fields as a sign of remembrance and the emblem of
'keeping the faith with all who died.'"
Consequently, she led a successful campaign to have the American Legion
recognize the poppy as the official symbol of remembrance in April 1920.
At the same time, Madame Anne Guerin, of France, inspired both by
McCrae's poem and by Moina Michael's example, also became a vigorous
advocate of the poppy as the symbol of remembrance for war dead. Her
own organization, the American and French Children's League, sold cloth
copies of the flower to help raise money to re-establish war-devastated
areas in Europe.
In 1921, Guerin travelled to Britain and Canada on behalf of the
poppy and convinced both the recently formed British Legion and the
Canadian Great War Veterans Association (a predecessor of the Canadian
Legion) to adopt the poppy as their symbol of remembrance as well. The
first 'Poppy Day' in both countries occurred on 11 November 1921. The
Returned Soldiers League in Australia adopted the poppy as its symbol
of remembrance the same year.
For the first year, these artificial poppies were bought from Guerin's
organization in France. By 1922, however, the various countries had
started manufacturing them at home. In Canada, they were made by Vetcraft
shops, run by the Department of Soldiers Civil Re-establishment and
staffed by disabled soldiers. After its formation in 1925, the Canadian
Legion (known as the Royal Canadian Legion since 1959) has run the poppy
campaign in Canada.
An early edition of the Legion's magazine, The Legionary,
explained the significance of buying poppies made by Vetcraft, as opposed
to commercially available copies, as follows: "The disabled veterans in
Vetcraft and Red Cross workshops are creating true memorials, while a
poppy replica produced under ordinary commercial competitive conditions
is nothing more nor less than an artificial flower."
The artificial poppy continues to flourish as the symbol of remembrance
in the week leading up to the official commemorations on November 11.
Today, millions of Canadians wear the bright red emblem to remember and
honour the many thousands of their fellow Canadians who have died in
war.