By Christine Reid.
The corn poppy, Papaver rhoeas, is just a common wildflower, one that grows best in disturbed fields in many different countries, including the United States. Since around the end of World War I however, the red field poppy has come to symbolize the soldier’s sacrifice in battle.
Flanders, a region of Belgium, was the site of horrific battles during the first world war. After the land was ravaged by war, red poppies, one of the few things that would grow there, covered the fields in the spring.
The connection of poppies to veteran’s organizations all began with a man who grieved over a fallen comrade. Lt. Col. John McCrae, a Canadian physician, had presided over the funeral of friend and fellow soldier Alex Helmer, who had died in 1915 during the
| In Flanders Fields by Lt. Col. John McCrae
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 falling 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.
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second battle of Ypres, a town in West Belgium. McCrae was so moved by the loss of his friend that he wrote a poem to express his feelings. Titled, “In Flanders Fields,” the poem, written in rondeau style, simply and eloquently describes the beauty of nature as it unfolds alongside the stark realities of war. It ends with the plea that the living should honor the dead by carrying on the mission.
An American professor in New York City, Moina Michael, read the poem at the end of World War I in 1918 and was inspired to buy all the poppies she could find and distribute them to people, asking them to wear the flower as a tribute to fallen soldiers. America’s sons, she pointed out, would rest forever in Flanders fields and should not be forgotten. Later she would start a campaign that resulted in the adoption of the poppy as a national symbol of sacrifice. In 1921, the American Legion Auxiliary Poppy Program was formed to connect the distribution of poppies on Memorial Day and Veterans Day to a sign of respect for the soldiers’ sacrifice. Other countries also honor veterans by wearing poppies leading up to Armistice Day.
Today, disabled American veterans fashion poppy flowers out of red crepe paper which are then given to the public in exchange for donations that help disabled and hospitalized veterans in communities. The distribution of the paper flowers is one of the oldest and most widely recognized programs of the American Legion Auxiliary.
