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Why We Wear Poppies: Remembrance Day Blog
What is Remembrance Day?
Every year at the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month, Canadians pause to remember. Remembrance Day honours everyone who has served Canada in war, conflict and peace, including more than 118,000 Canadians who died (Veterans Affairs Canada, n.d.).
Here's how it began:
November 11, 1918, at 11 a.m.: the armistice took effect, ending the fighting of the First World War.
1919: Canada and other Commonwealth countries marked the first Armistice Day.
1931: a bill from Alan Neill, a BC member of Parliament for Comox–Alberni, fixed the date as November 11 and renamed it Remembrance Day (Veterans Affairs Canada, n.d.).
Did you know? The poppy's famous poem was written by a Canadian
"In Flanders fields the poppies blow / Between the crosses, row on row..."
Those famous lines come from "In Flanders Fields," written by Canadian doctor and soldier Lt.-Col. John McCrae, who was born in Guelph, Ontario.
He wrote it on May 3, 1915, the morning after his friend Lt. Alexis Helmer was killed during the Second Battle of Ypres in Belgium.
It was first published in the British magazine Punch in December 1915, without his name (Granfield, 2016).
The poem inspired people to wear red poppies, which grew across the battlefields. Canada adopted the poppy as its symbol of remembrance in 1921, and Canada's first poppy day was November 11, 1921 (The Canadian Encyclopedia, n.d.).
Today's poppy: made from nature
The poppy on your coat has changed. In 2022, the Royal Canadian Legion began switching from plastic and felt poppies to biodegradable poppies made of paper and cotton velvet (Coleman, 2022).
Paper comes from wood fibre, so the new poppy starts in a forest.
Cotton comes from plants.
Some older plastic poppies may still be handed out while the Legion uses up its stock.
Remembering, rooted in nature
Trees help Canadians remember too. In Langley, BC, a Vimy Oak grown from acorns a Canadian soldier brought home from Vimy Ridge in 1917 was planted in 2017 as a living memorial (Veterans Affairs Canada, 2025).
This November 11, pause at 11 a.m. to remember.
When you put your poppy away, remember it's made of paper and cotton. Tell us in the comments: where do you take a moment to remember? Follow @foredbc for more stories about BC's forests and natural resources.
References
Coleman, N. (2022, November 3). Royal Canadian Legion takes a "green" approach to poppies this Remembrance Day. The Weather Network. https://www.theweathernetwork.com/ca/news/article/royal-canadian-legion-biodegradable-poppies-for-remembrance-day
Granfield, L. (2016, March 15). John McCrae. In The Canadian Encyclopedia. https://thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/john-mccrae
The Canadian Encyclopedia. (n.d.). Remembrance Day poppy. https://thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/remembrance-day-poppy
Veterans Affairs Canada. (n.d.). Remembrance Day. Government of Canada. https://veterans.gc.ca/en/remembrance/information-for/educators/quick-
Veterans Affairs Canada. (2025, May 25). Vimy Oak. Government of Canada. https://www.veterans.gc.ca/en/remembrance/memorials/canada/vimy-oak
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