why do you wear a poppy?

To remember and appreciate those who had no say and gave their lives so I can now live with the freedoms I enjoy.
Most notably, my great grandfather and great great grandfather who died in WWI.

Yes, she is asking why people don't wear it . . .

oiolehnvn · Today 11:45
"I am therefore puzzled as to why the Brits wear poppies ever year. If you choose to wear one, what's your rationale? Equally, if you do not - what's yours?"

Okay, I now have a better understanding of where you're coming from - I know how Jews were treated in Soviet times.

This.

In remembrance of all those who died in all conflicts we have been involved in, not just WW1 and WW2 that allow us the freedom we have now

it is in no way choosing to support or celebrate an army and I have no idea why you would even think that. A quick google will tell you why poppies are worn

I choose to wear a red poppy, some choose white and some purple, they all have significance

To remember and honour those who sacrificed their lives so we could live as we do now.

For those posting about why they don’t wear the poppy, that’s not really relevant. OP is asking why people wear it, not asking about those who choose not to wear it.

I think of generations of men lost in wwi and wwii on Armistice Day. It’s very moving for me.

I don’t wear a poppy as the war veterans in my family found that sort of display cringeworthy. It has meaning for some, and for others feels performative.

Interesting first post.

Yes.

I spent a term at Leningrad Uni back in '82 and recall seeing the veterans marching on Victory Day. Two of my university lecturers in Leningrad* were decorated veterans - one was a lovely woman who had been a nurse on the front line. Another lecturer had been a child during the war and recalled helping to clear bodies in order to stop an outbreak of plague following the siege.

The poppy is in memory of those who fell whilst fighting for their country - whether or not you approve of the cause that they fought for, it's in memory of them.

I wear mine in memory of all, but particularly in memory of my great-grandfather and FIL's brother, both of whom fell in the Great War. The former died fighting to save his country against an invading army. In my G-G's country, a different flower is worn, but they also honour the memory of British women doctors and nurses who came to their aid at that time, so I'm certain that G-G would approve of the poppy.

I also wear my poppy in memory of those who suffered lifelong trauma and injury, including several of my family members.

*Yes, I know that it's once again St Petersburg. [Adding this because I've been corrected by young Russians on more than one occasion. It was called Leningrad when I was there.

Insert the old joke about the elderly man who was born in Peterburg, brought up in Petrograd and then Leningrad but hoped to die in Peterburg.]

Ireland isn’t part of the four nations. If you’re Northern Irish you would wear a poppy if you were a loyalist, but you wouldn’t if you were a unionist. It’s very nuanced and complicated, you’re never going to understand it without researching it. Unionists: want a united Ireland, generally catholic, don’t like the British Army because of the atrocities they committed during the troubles. Loyalists: want Ireland to be part of the the UK, generally protestant, weren’t systematically oppressed by the British.

Totally agree with this.

My mum drove an ambulance in the blitz. Every boy who had been in her class when she was at her village school was killed. I wear it to remember the sacrifice.

To remember the dead and to support those who have served/put themselves in harms way and need help as a result - I couldn't serve in the armed forces I would lack the courage even if I were physically able. War is ugly and abhorrent but it happens whether I like it or not so in addition to remembering relatives who served and died its a way of showing respect to those who do something I could not. There's nothing celebratory about it, its mournful if anything or is to me anyway.

No, I don't wear any political symbols. We're now at a point where the tabloids are monitoring who is wearing poppies and who isn't on TV. It's ludicrous and contrary to the point of the remembrance and what we're remembering and memorialising. I don't need a poppy to remember the great sacrifices of the world wars and I have absolutely no issue with anyone who does choose to wear one. My neighbour across the road has a quite large 'lest we forget' display and with loads of poppies in their garden which is the first time I've seen it and personally think is unnecessary but it's their own business - and equally it's got nothing to do with anyone else what I do or don't do.

I wear mine to remember all four of my grandparents who served in WW2. And also five family members of the generation above them who died in WW1.

Two reasons:

1. In memory of my ancestors, who fought and bled in both WW1 and WW2. (My great grandfather was twice wounded in WW1 and my grandfather was wounded on D-Day in WW2.)

2. As a massive f*ck you to all the smug, bullying, sneering left-wingers who hate me and my history and are doing all they can to impose a new identity on me. I hear the sight of all the poppies makes the poor ickle Guardian-readers 'uncomfortable'. GOOD!😃

I haven’t ever met anyone who judges those not wearing a poppy. That seems to me to be something imagined by the media. It’s a personal choice and of course so it should be

My great uncle and great grandfather are buried in Flanders where they died aged 23 and 28. My uncle died in a Japanese prisoner of war camp and lies in Burma somewhere. They fought because they had to. Or perhaps they really thought they were fighting tyranny. Perhaps it was true in my uncle case, fighting nazism and fascism and against regimes trying to dictate what symbols people should and shouldn’t wear.

I have a "permanent" poppy because the paper ones get so dog eared and fall off so easily, but I still donate every year. I think most people who feel strongly enough to obtain and wear a permanent poppy feel strongly enough to donate. Even if they don't, it's still a sign of remembrance.

I choose to wear a poppy and absolutely respect other people's choice not to. But given I do choose to, how do I do it without being "performative"?

To commemorate those who died for our freedom in the war. It's a mark of respect.

The poppy has joined the Union flag and the rainbow lanyard on the short list of symbolic items I no longer use, because their original meaning has become distorted by misuse.

This is why I do.

Also I have been close in the past to a family that lost a son in a modern conflict.

If people choose not to, that's fine. I have very little tme for anyone that wants to label me for wishing to remember.

its a hard ask - Irish people wearing British legion poppies given they were occupied by the British for so long. Even if many Irish did fight in WW1 in particular.