100-year anniversary of the poppy

By Joan Janzen

Did you know people started wearing poppies a hundred years ago, in May of 1921? Poppies grew on the battlefields around gravesites after the end of the First World War. The poppy pin became an international symbol of remembrance after the Royal British Legion was founded.

In late 1914, the fields of Northern France and Flanders were once again ripped open by guns blazing and fighting. Once the conflict was over, one of the only plants to grow was the poppy, a perennial plant.

A French woman named Anna Guerin championed the poppy as a symbol of remembrance, resulting in the Royal British Legion ordering 9 million poppies in 1921 to use for fundraising. In 1922 a British army officer established the Poppy Factory in Richmond, England, where disabled former soldiers made silk poppies. To this day, the factory employs disabled veterans producing wreaths for the Royal family and Royal British Legion’s annual Poppy Appeal.

Many history buffs credit Canadian surgeon and soldier John McCrae for popularizing the poppy when he wrote the poem “In Flanders Fields” during World War I. Canada became the first country to support the poppy as a symbol of remembrance on July 6, 1921.

In November 2021, the Royal Canadian Legion distributed 20 million traditional poppy pins across Canada. The poppies aren’t sold but are offered for distribution or donation. No dollar value is placed on the poppy; instead people make a donation, and the funds raised are used locally.

In recognition of the 100th year of the poppy, the Royal Canadian Legion (RCL) has made available a commemorative coin from the Royal Canadian Mint, a stamp from Canada Post, and the Legion has unveiled a digital art initiative called “The Immortal Poppy.”

Approximately $17 million is raised every year in Canada through the Legion’s poppy campaign. This year a replica of the original cloth poppy pin from the First World War has been produced. It is very different from the lapel poppy of today and is made available this year as a special commemorative item.