Why is the Poppy a symbol of Memorial Day?

WHY IS THE POPPY A SYMBOL OF MEMORIAL DAY?

Happy Memorial Day!! 

Memorial Day honors those who have given their lives in battle.    

THANK YOU to all our brave men & women who serve   

 

Taking time to honor anything can bring peace to our day. 

Gratitude is a magical practice because it brings in more of the good stuff! 

And as we walk through our world, it’s easy not to think about certain freedoms because we are lucky to live with them everyday 

It's important for me to remember & honor 

those who have served to make these freedoms a possibility.  

RIP  

 

The Poppy?  how does that fit into all of this?!?  

 

When I think of the Poppy, my brain usually harkens  back to Dickens - Alice & the caterpillar or  the Wicked Witch of the West  ... 

(fun fact:   when I was a kid,  the wicked witch was my first starring role!  

Yeah,  imagine a mini-me with green face paint, a broomstick, sinister laugh and there was even melting!  but Thankfully No Iphones lol!)  

 

Back to the Poppy …. 

I didn’t realize until recently that this illustrious flower has a vivid history - it’s also a symbol of both life and Memorial Day 

 

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The wearing of poppies in honor of America’s war dead is traditionally done on Memorial Day.  

 

In war-torn battlefields, the red field poppy was one of the first plants to grow. Its seeds scattered in the wind and sat dormant in the ground, only germinating when the ground is disturbed - as it was by the very brutal fighting during World War I. 

 

The practice of wearing of poppies was inspired by the poem In Flanders Fields, written in 1915 by Canadian soldier John McCrae. 

 

McCrae was a poet, physician, author, artist, soldier during World War I and a surgeon during the Second Battle of Ypres in Belgium in 1915. McCrae's friend Lt. Alexis Helmer was killed during the battle and his burial inspired the poem which was written on May 3, 1915. 

 

McCrae saw the poppies during burials around his artillery position. On January 28, 1918, while still commanding No. 3 Canadian General Hospital (McGill) in Boulogne, McCrae died of pneumonia. 

 

In Flanders Fields 

by John McCrae, May 1915 

 

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.

 

The Poppy Lady 

 

The origin of the red poppy as a modern-day symbol of Memorial Day was the idea of an American woman, Moina Michael.  

It was on a Saturday morning, November 9, 1918, two days before the World War I Armistice was declared at 11 o'clock on November 11. Michael was on duty at the YMCA Overseas War Secretaries' headquarters in New York. A young soldier passed by her desk and left a copy of the latest November edition of the Ladies Home Journal there. In it she came across a page which carried a vivid color illustration with the poem entitled "We Shall Not Sleep." This was an alternative name sometimes used for McCrae's poem.  

Michael had come across the poem before, but reading it on this occasion she found herself transfixed by the last verse. In her autobiography, entitled The Miracle Flower, she says she felt as though she was actually being called in person by the voices which had been silenced by death. She made a personal pledge to “keep the faith.” She vowed always to wear a red poppy of Flanders Fields as a sign of remembrance. Compelled to make a note of this pledge she scribbled down a response on the back of a used envelope. She titled her poem We Shall Keep the Faith.  

Michael then had the idea to create an emblem of Remembrance using the red Flanders poppy. At the age of 49, with a career in teaching for over 30 years already behind her, she decided to dedicate her life to campaign to have this emblem recognized by governments, veteran agencies and the public. She continued with the project for the next 26 years until her death in 1944 and became affectionately known as the Poppy Lady.

We Shall Keep the Faith 

by Moina Michael, November 1918 

 

Oh! you who sleep in Flanders Fields, 

Sleep sweet - to rise anew! 

We caught the torch you threw 

And holding high, we keep the Faith 

With All who died. 

We cherish, too, the poppy red 

That grows on fields where valor led; 

It seems to signal to the skies 

That blood of heroes never dies, 

But lends a lustre to the red 

Of the flower that blooms above the dead 

In Flanders Fields. 

And now the Torch and Poppy Red 

We wear in honor of our dead. 

Fear not that ye have died for naught; 

We'll teach the lesson that ye wrought 

In Flanders Fields. 

 

Well, that’s my history lesson for today!   lol 

Thought this was a beautiful way to honor our war heroes 

While you’re celebrating, working or enjoying your day off. 

 

Take a moment of peace,  give thanks and remember 

Big Love 

meredith 

 

Article Source:  The Maritime Executive