From the last Friday in October to Remembrance Day, millions of Canadians wear a poppy as a visual pledge to never forget those who served and sacrificed.
The red flower also is the symbol of the Legion’s poppy campaign, raising funds to support veterans and their families in need.
The Legion’s lapel poppy is a sacred symbol of remembrance and should not be affixed with a pin that obstructs the poppy. The poppy should be worn on the left side, over the heart.
In Flanders Fields is a poem written during the First World War by Canadian Lieutenant-Colonel John McCrae after he presided over the funeral of a friend and fellow soldier.
So many years later, his poem continues to poignantly express the tragedy of the losses of war.
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.
