Royal Canadian Legion Branch 110 was one of over 1,400 branches in Canada to kick off the Poppy Fund campaign on Oct. 28. Photo by Matthew Murray, QNet News
By Matthew Murray [1]
BELLEVILLE – With Remembrance Day coming up, the Royal Canadian Legion [2] launched its annual Poppy Fund Campaign across Canada last Friday. Here are four things you need to know about the poppy and how to properly wear it according to legion guidelines [3].
How should the poppy be worn?
Poppies should be worn on the left side of your body and close to the heart, the legion says. Photo by Matthew Murray, QNet News
When should I wear the poppy?
The cenotaph across from the Royal Canadian Legion Branch 110 in downtown Trenton. The Legion asks people to place the poppies on the cenotaphs at the end of Remembrance Day. Photo by Matthew Murray, QNet News
Poppies should be worn from the last Friday of October until Remembrance Day on Nov. 11, the legion says. This is when the legion starts the Poppy Fund campaign each year.
The poppy can also be worn at other times of the year. Ceremonies for famous battles such as the Battle of Britain [4] and the Battle of the Atlantic [5], and memorial ceremonies at legion conventions are also appropriate places to wear a poppy.
Poppies should be removed at the end of Remembrance Day and placed at a local cenotaphs such as the one at Memorial Park in Belleville and the cenotaph across from Legion Branch 110 in Trenton, legion rules state.
Should I wear the poppy with a safety pin or a Canadian flag pin through the middle?
Using a pin other than the one given with the poppy is inappropriate, the organization says.
“It is the position of the legion that the poppy is the sacred symbol of remembrance and should not be defaced in any way,” the Royal Canadian Legion’s Poppy Manual [3] says, “No other pin, therefore, should be used to attach it to clothing.”
However, the legion understands that it has no control over the public and said that wearing a poppy with a different pin is better than wearing no poppy at all.
Wayne Monaghan, who served for 32 years and has been a member of the legion for over 20 years , said he feels people should avoid using a Canadian flag pin when securing their poppy.
“What you’re doing when you put the Canada flag [on the poppy] is defacing the front of the poppy and what is stands for,” he said.
77-year-old Glen Morrow is also a Legion Branch 110 member and served for 31 years with the armed forces. He said he wears the poppy with a pin because he doesn’t like losing his poppy.
“You look around and poppies are all over the ground,” he said. “I still put donations in, but I just like to put one on and have it stay there.”
A Royal Canadian Legion poppy pin. The legion says this is acceptable to wear in place of a poppy. Photo Credit: eBay
Putting the poppy on with a pin is something that’s fine because it’s the thought that counts, Morrow added.
“The thought is still there, it still represents the same idea,” he said.
A metal lapel pin with a banner that reads “We Remember” and poppy stickers are both acceptable ways of wearing a poppy for Remembrance Day, the legion says.
Why is the poppy the symbol of remembrance in Canada?
The poppy was chosen as the symbol of remembrance mainly due to the famous poem, In Flanders Fields by John McCrae [6].
Another reason is the poppy was able to thrive in the land torn apart by artillery and often overgrew around the graves left behind, the War Museum of Canada says [7]. It was adopted by the Great War Veterans Association in 1921 as the symbol of remembrance in Canada, but had been used as a symbol in the United States, France and Britain before then [8], according to Legion Magazine.