# whats up with this "flower" that the brits wear these days **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 8, 2008, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-up-with-this-flower-that-the-brits-wear-these-days/471810 "2008-11-08T15:28:15Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Wildfire\_MM](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f08c70/32.png) [@Wildfire\_MM](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wildfire_MM)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2008, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-up-with-this-flower-that-the-brits-wear-these-days/471810/1 "2008-11-08T15:28:15Z")
i’ve seen TV-hosts on both BBC and Sky news wear this for weeks now what is it for? ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2008, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-up-with-this-flower-that-the-brits-wear-these-days/471810/2 "2008-11-08T15:30:59Z")
Just guessing here, but is it a poppy? They’re popular this time of year… ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2008, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-up-with-this-flower-that-the-brits-wear-these-days/471810/3 "2008-11-08T15:31:47Z")
It’s a poppy, the symbol of [Remembrance Day](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Remembrance_Day). ---
**Author:** ![Wildfire\_MM](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f08c70/32.png) [@Wildfire\_MM](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wildfire_MM)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2008, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-up-with-this-flower-that-the-brits-wear-these-days/471810/4 "2008-11-08T15:49:55Z")
thanks for the answer ---
**Author:** ![Speaker\_for\_the\_Dead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c77e96/32.png) [@Speaker\_for\_the\_Dead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Speaker_for_the_Dead)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2008, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-up-with-this-flower-that-the-brits-wear-these-days/471810/5 "2008-11-08T16:30:57Z")
I keep forgetting that this isn’t a world-wide habit! I’ve worn a poppy as long as I can remember (in elementary school, they warned us not to bend it in half to make lips), so it’s a permanent part of my cultural landscape. Is there something similar for Veterans’ Day in the U.S.? ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2008, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-up-with-this-flower-that-the-brits-wear-these-days/471810/6 "2008-11-08T16:44:08Z")
In Israel, we wear [this](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Helichrysum_sanguineum.jpg)flower - _helichrysum sanguineum_, A.K.A red everlasting, A.K.A blood of the maccabees - on Memorial Day. ---
**Author:** ![bordelond](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bordelond/32/150_2.png) [@bordelond](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bordelond)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2008, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-up-with-this-flower-that-the-brits-wear-these-days/471810/7 "2008-11-08T16:46:53Z")
> [@Speaker\_for\_the\_Dead](#): > > Is there something similar for Veterans’ Day in the U.S.? Nah, there’s no kind of floral symbol. Veteran’s Day is a minor holiday in America–most people still go to work, and all the schools around here are open. The article that Quartz links to mentions that America’s Memorial Day holiday takes the cultural role that Nov 11 takes in the Commonwealth countries. ---
**Author:** ![Gorsnak](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gorsnak/32/7587_2.png) [@Gorsnak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gorsnak)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2008, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-up-with-this-flower-that-the-brits-wear-these-days/471810/8 "2008-11-08T16:53:06Z")
\*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.\* -John McCrae Note: this poem is in the public domain ---
**Author:** ![Speaker\_for\_the\_Dead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c77e96/32.png) [@Speaker\_for\_the\_Dead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Speaker_for_the_Dead)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2008, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-up-with-this-flower-that-the-brits-wear-these-days/471810/9 "2008-11-08T16:55:50Z")
_Flanders Fields_ is written on one of our bills. I think it’s the twenty. ---
**Author:** ![Gorsnak](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gorsnak/32/7587_2.png) [@Gorsnak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gorsnak)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2008, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-up-with-this-flower-that-the-brits-wear-these-days/471810/10 "2008-11-08T16:59:40Z")
> [@Speaker\_for\_the\_Dead](#): > > _Flanders Fields_ is written on one of our bills. I think it’s the twenty. Back of the $10, actually. ---
**Author:** ![yabob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yabob/32/2821_2.png) [@yabob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yabob)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2008, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-up-with-this-flower-that-the-brits-wear-these-days/471810/11 "2008-11-08T17:05:26Z")
The poppy is supposed to be a symbol of the US Memorial Day as well. It just never really caught on. I remember the VFW distributing them in exchange for contributions - something I haven’t seen for a while. ---
**Author:** ![outlierrn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/outlierrn/32/3005_2.png) [@outlierrn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/outlierrn)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2008, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-up-with-this-flower-that-the-brits-wear-these-days/471810/12 "2008-11-08T18:36:13Z")
some additional reading > **[Is the poppy a Canadian-only tradition?](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=491282)** > > Watching the US election results, and I’m struck that none of the Americans is wearing a poppy. I know that Remembrance Day is a Canadian holiday set aside to mark the armistice that ended the First World War, but what about other countries? Is the... ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2008, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-up-with-this-flower-that-the-brits-wear-these-days/471810/13 "2008-11-08T21:19:42Z")
> [@bordelond](#): > > Nah, there’s no kind of floral symbol. Veteran’s Day is a minor holiday in America–most people still go to work, and all the schools around here are open. > > The article that Quartz links to mentions that America’s Memorial Day holiday takes the cultural role that Nov 11 takes in the Commonwealth countries. And as I have said in just about every other thread about this that pops up, the poppy is around in the states, its just not universal. I have bought a poppy from the VFW every year that I can remember. Maybe you don’t have a VFW near you. The Brits around me now seem to have been wearing it for weeks. Back home I have only ever seen it on Memorial Day or Veterans Day. ---
**Author:** ![Ximenean](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/aca169/32.png) [@Ximenean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ximenean)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2008, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-up-with-this-flower-that-the-brits-wear-these-days/471810/14 "2008-11-08T21:45:54Z")
Hmm, the Canadian poppies seem a bit nicer than ours. Ours are just cheap stamped-out paper, but judging from the pictures theirs are actually sculpted to resemble real poppies. Anyway, to reiterate **Speaker for the Dead** ’s point, there is no “these days” about it. TV presenters, politicians and other public figures in many Commonwealth countries have sported symbolic poppies at this time of year for as long as I can remember. They’re sold outside supermarkets, in shopping malls etc., in the weeks leading up to November 11th. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Flying\_Dutchman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/9fc348/32.png) [@The\_Flying\_Dutchman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Flying_Dutchman)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2008, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-up-with-this-flower-that-the-brits-wear-these-days/471810/15 "2008-11-08T22:19:52Z")
> [@Usram](#): > > Hmm, the Canadian poppies seem a bit nicer than ours. Ours are just cheap stamped-out paper, but judging from the pictures theirs are actually sculpted to resemble real poppies. > > Anyway, to reiterate **Speaker for the Dead** ’s point, there is no “these days” about it. TV presenters, politicians and other public figures in many Commonwealth countries have sported symbolic poppies at this time of year for as long as I can remember. They’re sold outside supermarkets, in shopping malls etc., in the weeks leading up to November 11th. Our poppies in Canada used to feel like felt, but now they are made of cheap plastic. ---
**Author:** ![Polycarp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/82dd89/32.png) [@Polycarp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polycarp)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2008, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-up-with-this-flower-that-the-brits-wear-these-days/471810/16 "2008-11-08T22:42:15Z")
Veterans Day, formerly Armistice Day, is a holiday in some but not all U.S. states, and we had a thread recently about where V.F.W. poppies were and were not (and were formerly) common sights. ---
**Author:** ![dangermom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e274bd/32.png) [@dangermom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dangermom)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2008, 12:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-up-with-this-flower-that-the-brits-wear-these-days/471810/17 "2008-11-09T00:21:44Z")
I’ve seen them often over the past 20 years, but not consistently, and they do seem to pop up around Memorial Day, which I find weird–I only expect to see them at Veterans’ Day. The ones I’ve gotten have always been woven silk flowers, albeit very cheap ones. I kind of expected to see someone selling them when I was out and about today, but no dice. ---
**Author:** ![Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eyebrows_0f_doom/32/3119_2.png) [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eyebrows_0f_Doom)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2008, 7:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-up-with-this-flower-that-the-brits-wear-these-days/471810/18 "2008-11-09T07:52:38Z")
I saw several people in Times Square tonight wearing one of those. ---
**Author:** ![rbroome](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/838e76/32.png) [@rbroome](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rbroome)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2008, 1:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-up-with-this-flower-that-the-brits-wear-these-days/471810/19 "2008-11-09T13:48:02Z")
> [@Speaker\_for\_the\_Dead](#): > > I keep forgetting that this isn’t a world-wide habit! I’ve worn a poppy as long as I can remember (in elementary school, they warned us not to bend it in half to make lips), so it’s a permanent part of my cultural landscape. > > Is there something similar for Veterans’ Day in the U.S.? poppys used to be somewhat popular on veterans day in the US. Haven’t seen many in the 20 or so years. ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2008, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-up-with-this-flower-that-the-brits-wear-these-days/471810/20 "2008-11-09T19:35:40Z")
> [@The\_Flying\_Dutchman](#): > > Our poppies in Canada used to feel like felt, but now they are made of cheap plastic. Huh? Mine is still felt. the same poppy that’s been around forever. Yep, the one we folded and made lips out of as kids. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-up-with-this-flower-that-the-brits-wear-these-days/471810.md?page=2)