I am watching CBC’s coverage of the US mid-term elections because they’re slightly less annoying than CNN/C-SPAN/Fox/ABC/etc. All the Canadian News people are wearing poppy pins, which led me down a Wikipedia rabbit hole on how the poppy flower is a symbol for remembering military service members. It dates back to a WWI era poem, and also inspired France to do create a similar bleuet de France.
It also led me to this 2015 article in which some Canadians considered it “defacing” the symbol to use a safer pin design than an inches long stick pin. I’m just glad USians aren’t the only that get mouth-frothing stupid about arbitrary symbols. https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgary/remembrance-day-poppy-pin-that-won-t-fall-off-1.3311799
Stabbed myself in the palm putting my jacket on yesterday. But that’s ok. Remembrance day is Nov 11, take a silent minute at 11:11 to think about what and who’s sacrifice.
Flanders Fields while you’re at it https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/In_Flanders_Fields
It also led me to this 2015 article in which some Canadians considered it “defacing” the symbol to use a safer pin design than an inches long stick pin. I’m just glad USians aren’t the only that get mouth-frothing stupid about arbitrary symbols.
There’s also been a controversial movement of wearing white poppies, or “peace” poppies. The idea is that if red poppies are specifically for soldiers then white poppies are for all victims of war, most of whom are non-combatants.
Is it really controversial to be pro-peace and to not want civilian deaths?
Honestly, I wish white poppies were easier to get a hold of. Finally bought a batch after wanting some for years. More appropriate now than ever.
Remembrance day since 9/11 has just been pro war on terror propaganda and was pretty sickening for me going to school during those years. Got a bunch of friends and other people my age, killed and wounded in Afghanistan for nothing. For me thats what the red poppy reminds me of… that and the embarrassing fact that we need a charity campaign to keep care of our veterans. Maybe the government owes them better care?
How many deaths have we allowed in Ukraine, Gaza/Lebanon/West Bank/Syria etc… and Iran?
I like the idea of a white “peace” poppy. I assume used as a quiet but visible way to protest, eg, any support of the a Israeli government’s genocide of Palestinian people.
A lot of Quakers wear white poppies.
It irks me every year seeing people who love the military wear poppies. If you really care about dead troops you should probably stop supporting the troop killing machine.
The Royal Canadian Legion sells a black centre pin for use with the disposable poppys that are distributed every year. I have had one for a long time, it’s the greatest.
Edit to say: I’ve only seen the defacing argument with regard to using a random pin (ex. a tiny Canadian flag pin) instead of something that maintains the integrity of the symbol by still looking like a poppy.
I hadn’t actually realised this was a uniquely Canadian thing
Canadian, British, Australian and New Zealand.
Oh, somehow I read over the “and commonwealth” part of the title
It’s also a UK thing
And how. If they catch you not wearing a poppy in November they throw you in jail.
As kids in school we were given these with the long pin. Lots of us learned that the skin in your palm is pretty thick and you can pierce a layer of skin without it hurting or bleeding, and then you could wear your poppy embedded in your hand.
Gives me the creeps thinking back on that.
The poem is called In Flanders Fields written by Canadian war doctor LCJohn McCrae during WWI.
Yeah, to you it’s an arbitrary symbol but to others, from the very point of inception, it was a visible reminder of the once very human friend, partner, parent, sibling etc that had been killed in conflict and would no longer be part of your life ever again.
Grave stones are just lumps of rock, but people get upset when I take a piss on one - go figure. Emotional humans are weird.
And your thoughts on whether one must use the original stick pin or is it ok and not actually “defacing” the symbol to use a safer pin design? That’s the “arbitrary” bit I was making fun of.
I don’t even wear one… Generally these things do have some protocol though - but I’m not Canadian and in the other Commonwealth countries I’ve spent Remembrance Day in I’ve never encountered this debate.
Americans aren’t big on WWI. It’s not the “loss of a generation” slaughter it is to the rest of the parties involved
Seriously not a fan of people stretching out when they wear the poppy. It’s for November 11.
The legion has been selling them for 2 weeks or more now so I mean, I think they are the fucking authority there bud.
Nov 1- 11 is acceptable
Cadets give them out prior, it makes sense to put it on when you get it vs carrying it around until you can find a place to store it.
The “defacing” argument is just because they’re worried their going to sell less flowers. It’s so dumb. The legion even sold them once until they thought it would drop the market out of plastic flowers. The Legion does great things for lots of small communities, but they are also sometimes a bunch of geriatric assholes with their heads up their asses.
They damn near give them away already
Anyone who has dealt with a small town legion understands who they’re dealing with. Every legion has endless stories about infighting and power hunger boomers. One nearby legion burnt down. They raised a ton of money, built a new one and then all the volunteers quit enmass because the president became a tyrant and they closed. (they reopened eventually)
I have no doubt that the poppy pin was one person’s great idea that got squashed by a cabal angry old men and women to put the upstart in their place. A tradition is anything that happened to a boomer twice and traditions are sacrosanct.
