Remembrance Day

I was surprised by the number of people who asked "What is that?" as they pointed to my poppy brooch.  I'm so used to watching BBC news and British programming and seeing poppies abound during the month of November.  In the UK, the Poppy Appeal is the Royal British Legion's biggest fundraising campaign held every year in November, during the period of Remembrance.  Countless public figures and ordinary citizens wear a poppy - I remember Sophia riding in a horse show in the collegiate zone that included British Columbia and the Canadian riders were wearing poppies on their riding jackets during a show in November.

Was there no Poppy Appeal in the United States?  A little research led me to the American Legion's website and this:

On September 27,1920, the poppy became the official flower of The American Legion family to memorialize the soldiers who fought and died during the war.  In 1924, the distribution of poppies became a national program of The American Legion.

The American Legion brought National Poppy Day to the United States by asking Congress to designate the Friday before Memorial Day as National Poppy Day.

So whether you wear a poppy in November or in May, on the left or on the right (it's a matter of personal choice), you're wearing it to honor those who made the ultimate sacrifice, in whatever conflict.  I found out recently that my grandmother's fiancé was killed in World War I.  He died on the last day of the Battle of the Somme and his name is inscribed, along with 72,336 others who died in the battle and have no known grave, on the Thiepval Memorial near the village of Thiepval, Picardy, France.  One day, I will lay a poppy there in his honor.

The Poppy Appeal

National Poppy Day