I only see poppies on Veterans’ Day (formerly Armistice Day, Nov. 11). I’ve never associated them with Election Day.
I’m seeing them all over the place in Scotland.
Don’t ever recall seeing Poppies on Veteran’s Day in the US, but we do parades and flags and all that. Another vote for WWI not having as big a cultural impact for the US as it did for Commonwealth countries and France.
Poppies are a massive thing in Britain - the Poppy Appeal raised GBP 30 million last year for the Royal British Legion that supports ex-servicemen. The poppies are manufactured in Legion workshops and sold in the two/three weeks leading up to Remembrance Day (the Sunday nearest 11 November). No TV presenter or politician would be seen in public without a poppy from about the last week in October.
Interesting point: the idea actually came from the States. From the FCO “UK in the USA” website:
It’s a British Commonwealth thing - not really done anywhere else.
You might find this thread interesting. It’s MPSIMS from a year ago, and talks quite a bit about a guy from Canada who wore a poppy on last year’s Jeopary Tournament of Champions.
I know very well the meaning of poppies, but I find that a lot of Americans don’t. It’s sad, really.
Except Jon Snow on Channel 4 News:
Here’s an interesting article on the controversial nature of the poppy in Northern Ireland. Also Eoin Quigg, a contestant from Co. Derry on Britain’s X-Factor has been criticised for wearing the poppy.
I used to see them on Veterans’ Day when I was a kid, but I haven’t seen one for years and years. I suppose they’ve fallen out of use here in South Carolina.
Poppies were common around Veterans Day when I was a kid. The practice has slowly faded away. I think there are two main reasons: The choice of poppies is not understood as more time passes since WWI, and because of the connection between poppies and opium.
Worn in most commonwealth countries, less so in S Asia, but some military men wear them.
Um! I was exaggerating a bit and I’d forgotten about Jon Snow (and others). Fair enough, I’d be the last to force anyone to wear a symbol they don’t want to but I find his reasoning a bit naf.
In some ways I would prefer a refusal to wear a poppy based on opposition to the military (or as a symbol of imperial agression :rolleyes: as seen in **An Gadaí’s **links from N Ireland).
One annoying trend I’ve noticed is a tendancy for some politicians to start sporting their poppies earlier and earlier in a sort of competetive pseudo patriotism.
That’s just the opinions of a few hard line idiots these days though. This kind of reflexive ‘the British are doing it and I don’t like it ergo they’re doing it to be provocative’ line of errant reasoning needs to be consigned to the dustbin of history. The SF and other windbags who spout this line of nonsense deserve to be laughed at, not printed and taken seriously.
The idea that someone could be wearing a poppy purely to piss off the Catholics is ridiculous. Many families in NI from all denominations lost family members in that war. Also claiming that it commemorates an imperial role for the army rather than being purely a remembrance of the men and women who died in a just war is deeply offensive.
ETA. They’re available in the republic if you go looking and I do tend to wear one on the day itself.
Poppies have never faded away in Britain and they have - I think - received a boost recently with British troops on active service in Iraq and particularly Afganistan.
Not sure when it happened but in the last few years there has been more of an emphasis on the two minute silence on Armistice Day (the 11th hour of the 11th day or the 11th month) after many years when all the events were on Remembrance Day (the nearest Sunday to the 11th). I think most people still have some concept of WW1, it is a standard part of the school history curriculum for 14-16 year olds.
I always associated poppies with Memorial Day at the end of May. Veterans Day, not so much.
I have never worn one but wouldn’t be against it. My relatives in the north would never wear one because it is not part of their identity (currently).
Well, that came off pretty condescending. FYI.
For an additional data point, I was born in the early 70s and raised in California (whose state flower is the poppy), and I was, up until opening this thread, completely unaware that there was any significance whatsoever to wearing poppies.
I think wearing the poppy is completely apolitical - it’s simply about remembering soldiers who gave service to their country, not just from WWI. It’s a visible symbol that we acknowledge and recognize the service of others. I don’t see the politics in that.
This just came to me from a friend on Facebook - 1914 - 1918 Vigil . I find it really inspiring that people want to keep the names and the stories alive.