22-05-2025
Why do people wear red flowers on Memorial Day? What do red poppies mean?
On Monday, May 26, millions of people around the United States will be observing Memorial Day and honoring members of the military who have fallen in the line of duty, protecting the country and our way of life. Americans will attend ceremonies, lay flowers at gravesites and mourn.
Some of them will be wearing red flowers on their lapels. You may also see people wearing them on Friday, May 23, for National Poppy Day. Why?
It started during World War I.
According to the American Legion, red poppies bloomed brightly across France and Belgium during WWI, something scientists attributed to the soil enriched with lime from rubble left over from the battles.
The sight of colorful red flowers sprouting among and around rows of white crosses of fallen soldiers in Flanders prompted Colonel John McCrae, a surgeon with Canada's First Brigade Artillery who had just buried his friend and fellow soldier, to write a poem to speak for the fallen and issue a call to action for the living.
The poem was printed in the British magazine "Punch" in 1915 and captured the attention of the British Commonwealth. It "became a rallying cry to all who fought in the First World War," according to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, and was read at memorial ceremonies.
The red poppy became known as the "Flower of Remembrance" in the allied countries America, Britain, France, Canada, Australia and New Zealand and became a symbol of the "war to end all wars" and its human cost.
In Flanders Fields, by John McCrae
In 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.
We are the dead. Short days ago / We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow / Loved, and were loved, and now we lie / In Flanders fields.
Take up our quarrel with the foe: / To you from failing hands we throw / The torch; be yours to hold it high. / If ye break faith with us who die / We shall not sleep, though poppies grow / In Flanders fields.
Anna E. Guérin of France and Moina Michael of Georgia both were touched by the poem and worked to create and sell artificial poppies, also known as "remembrance poppies," to help widows and orphans who were left homeless and destitute by the war.
Michael campaigned to make the silk poppy a national symbol of remembrance, selling them to raise money for veterans and their families. Guérin traveled to the United States to create an American version of a French veterans' organization, which used the poppy as its symbol.
The two women promoted the sale of artificial poppies to raise money for veterans, widows, orphans, bonds, and charities helping veterans such as the Red Cross. The National American Legion adopted the poppy in 1920 and made it their official flower in 1924. The Veterans of Foreign Wars helped the women when they ran into distribution problems, established the red poppy as its own official memorial flower and created the VFW Buddy Poppy, named after the factory where they were assembled.
Over 100 years later, red poppies from both the VFW and the American Legion still are handed out on veteran recognition days such as Memorial Day, Veterans Day and National Poppy Day.
National Poppy Day is observed the Friday before Memorial Day. This year, that's May 23, 2025.
Each year, members of the American Legion distribute poppies with a request that the person receiving it donates to support the future of veterans, active-duty military personnel and their families with medical and financial needs.
Both organizations use the poppies to raise money for veterans' needs and to provide income for the veterans assembling them.
In 1920, the American Legion Auxillary successfully lobbied for National Poppy Day. The ALA distributes millions of crepe poppies annually in exchange for donations that go directly to assist disabled and hospitalized veterans in local communities. ALA poppies have a black center.
When the VFW began distributing them, they created their own and called it a Buddy Poppy. Veterans are paid to make them and donations from the program provide financial assistance in maintaining state and national veterans' rehabilitation and service programs and partially support the VFW National Home. Theirs has a green center.
Other countries also adopted the red poppy as their official symbol of remembrance, largely due to Guérin's efforts.
The red poppy is seen by many as a lasting tribute to all those who served their country and sacrificed their lives for its freedom.
The poppies are distributed on Memorial Day and Veterans Day, although they're more commonly worn for Memorial Day in the United States.
This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: What is National Poppy Day? Flowers honor the fallen for Memorial Day
