we were told that it had something to do with the wars and soldiers who died during the world wars. when i was in secondary one, some smart fellow told us that the poppy flower came from the opium plant. we started to wonder why such a symbol (flower) associated with a banned substance was used for this fund raising purpose.
i do not remember when they stopped commemorating remembrance day in schools. these days, we do not see people distributing the artificial poppy to collect donation. i think it could have stopped sometime in the late 60s.
the poppy of wartime remembrance is papaver rhoeas, the red flowered corn poppy. this poppy is a common weed in europe and is found in many locations, including flanders fields. canadian surgeon and soldier, john mccrae wrote the poem in flanders fields on may 3, 1915, after witnessing the death of his friend, lt. alexis helmer. the opening line of the poem vividly describes the image of the poppies blowing in the wind amongst the many crosses that mark the resting places of fallen soldiers. thus the plant became a symbol for the dead world war 1 soldiers. in many commonwealth countries, artificial, paper or plastic versions of this poppy are worn to commemorate the sacrifice of veterans and civilians in world war 1 and other wars, during the weeks preceding remembrance day on november 11.
remembrance day is normally held in conjunction with poppy day. artificial red poppies are sold to the public on or around remembrance day to raise funds for the various veterans' leagues in assistance of needy veterans and their families. poppies are recognised as a symbol of ultimate sacrifice in war. it was said that one of the first flowers to bloom in the battlefields of flanders was the poppy.
