Today, MCI wants to mark Remembrance Day. Few people in the UK need reminding of why we link the poppy with Remembrance Day, but after World War One, poppies grew prolifically where the battlefields had been. In English folklaw, the poppy has always been linked with sleep and death, so it is a fitting symbol for the ultimate sacrifice made by service men and women who have died carrying out their work.
Remembrance Day Poem
The poppy’s link with Remembrance Day was also immortalised in the poem ‘In Flanders Fields’ by Lieutenant-Colonel John McCrae. For those of you who are not familiar with this poignant poem:
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.
By John McCrae
Poppy shaped badges are worn as a sign of respect and the money gathered from the sale of these badges go to charities to help ex-service men and women.
The Cornflower
Poppies are not the only flower to be associated with Remembrance Day. In France, the cornflower is worn. The Cornflower is said to symbolize innocence, delicacy and hope for the future. Also, Blue is the first of the three colours of the French Tricolore.
Like the poppy, cornflowers continued to grow on fields ravaged by the fighting of World War I, symbolising new life and hope.
Wherever you are and whatever flower you may be wearing this weekend, take some time to remember those that have given their lives in war.