why do you wear a poppy?

Everyone who immigrates here knows there is a class system. I doubt very much they genuinely understand it, but that’s a somewhat different thread. I think it’s legitimate to wonder just what class differences there are in most British traditions, tbh.

And all ‘naice ’ says to me is that someone has probably spent too much time on Mumsnet. Nobody, surely, uses that expression in real life. I wonder if the OP even understands that it’s more a piss-take of a certain attitude than a platform-specific but genuine use of nice.

edited because auto-correct is shit

You’ve that all mixed up!

Ireland (aka ROI) isn’t part of the UK as you said.
Northern Ireland is, that’s fine.

But the two communities in NI are, broadly speaking, Unionist and Nationalist.
Unionists, as the name implies, want to remain part of the union, part of the UK. Definitely not part of a united Ireland as you said! Usually see themselves as British, mostly Protestant. Often have GB heritage way back (the plantation of Ulster began in the early 17th century). Loyalists are more extreme or militant unionists if you like, they included loyalist paramilitaries.

The mostly Catholic nationalist community came from the native Irish population and generally identify as Irish. Their more extreme members are known as republicans and included republican paramilitaries.

Most of those in NI want peace above all else and thankfully things have improved a lot since the Good Friday agreement in 1998.

Wrong
Unionists and loyalist want to keep the union
Hence the term "Unionist '
There are members of the Ulster Unionist Party who fought in Afghanistan for the Royal Irish Regiment, which is part of the British Army, Andy Allen and Doug Beattie.

It's republicans and nationalists who want a United Ireland
That said Northern Irelands Republican First Minister and member of Sinn Fein, Michelle O'Neil, will be laying a wreath at Belfast City Hall on Sunday.

The ideology that war is what gave us our freedoms, not the people who directly fought for them in this country against our own government and elites, is something that brings an unease for me
Is anyone saying that @FellowSuffereroftheAbsurd ? Isn’t Remembrances all about the personal sacrifice? Obviously some freedoms have been fought for by unions etc, but fundamental ones come from not being subjugated in war.

I own red poppies with Never Again on them that I got from a local veteran's charity that makes them and custom poppies for organisations.

I don't tend to wear them. Some years it's because I forget, sometimes it's because by Remembrance Day, I've already been saturated in the poppies for several weeks on light posts, buses, pubs and so on that I don't feel my voice in this is wanted. We've seen on here how foreigner views on this can be treated.

I come from a family with both veterans and conscientious objectors. I was also raised in the US surrounded by Korean and Vietnam veterans, none who participated in Remembrance ceremonies. I had family and people I went to school with who were taken off to Iraq, Afghanistan, and beyond who never came back - or did but not as they were. I value remembering the dead, but not specifically remembering wars or military dead.

The ideology that war is what gave us our freedoms, not the people who directly fought for them in this country against our own government and elites, is something that brings an unease for me.

If you or one of your relatives died fighting for their country against nazism wouldn’t you want people to remember that sacrifice? That’s what the poppy is. I never understand this increasing antagonism and watering down of it. Unless you’re a nazi or a fan of Hitler’s work, everyone should be remembering.

I'm pretty sure Neo Nazis remember WW2.

It's much prettier to make poppies about fighting Hitler 80 years ago, but poppies are from people remembering the deaths in World War 1 and arguing with governments on how they treated people during and after the war. It's watering down to erase that. Care to tell us who we must a fan of from WW1 to not wear poppies? Surely that's something everyone should be remembering...right?

It is a shame that some people try to make the poppies political.

WW1 veterans and widows made poppies political years before WW2 during protests against the government on how poorly they treated people during WW1 and those left behind. That it's moved from Never Again to Lest We Forget is political. That it's treated that people dying in wars is how we have the freedoms of today when it's far more complicated with a lot of conflict with our own government is a political choice.

My view is that all war is very very messy

which is why we know many decent people on all sides end up being combatents and dying in armed conflict. They are sometimes idealists and sometimes victims of propaganda, but usually died in a situation where they thought they were risking their lives for good reasons. That is a noble and tragic sacrifice.

and whilst I would support a white poppy,...

I can't be arsed to deal with this "colour of your poppy" matters shit.
Amused that I've lived in this country 30+ yrs, my son serves in British Army, yet I don't know anything about poppy colour symbolism. Meanwhile, these poppy colour subtleties are so well understood by OP who just stepped off the boat (seemingly).

If poppy sales are an important income source to armed services then maybe we should allocate more money to the military out of taxation.

Pffffffffffftttt

Nope. It’s offensive, political bollocks.

And here we have the politicisation of the poppy which I hate and which shits on the memory of those who have fallen. How dare you?
Im a raging leftie. I wear a poppy. I’ll be playing at a remembrance service in a concert band this weekend, as I do every year, to raise money for the poppy appeal. My late dad, also a raging leftie, was an RAF veteran of WW2 and read the guardian for the rest of his life. It doesn’t make anyone uncomfortable except when people like you use it to spread division in this way - and then it’s not the poppy making us uncomfortable, it’s the knowledge that people died and that’s all you can do with their sacrifice for your freedom.

im not sure what new identity you think you are having imposed though.

Well that's what I asked. You never know, she might reply. To be fair though, I think she meant any poppy at all was performative. She thought that people who wear reusable poppies weren't donating every year and therefore the RBL wasn't benefitting, so I felt the need to explain that's not the case. But in retrospect I should probably have given it the same amount of energy I initially intended to give the oh so puzzled OP.

Edited for clarity.

"lest we forget"

The world wars were a total catastrophe. For me its about remembering how awful that was and to not let it happen again. Remembrance day is about armistice and how important it was that that those conflicts were brought to an end.

Yes, I should've known better after years on MN. Out of interest (and I promise not in the least bit goady!) why is wearing a metal or knitted poppy less performative?

I wear a poppy to remember those who fought, lost their lives or were disabled in wars. I lost 2 great uncles in the WW1 and both left young widows with children.

The old 'educate yourself' 'but not like that' strikes again.

We should always be wary of "I'm just trying to understaaaaand" OPs.

I wasn't going to reply, but I am hoping to get an answer from one poster about how one wears a poppy without being performative, and to assure her that it's possible to donate every year while wearing a metal or knitted poppy.

Nobody hates you and your history.

Dearie me.

During 2018, the centenary of the ending of WW1, our local council made laminated posters with the details of each of the servicemen who had come from our city and they secured these posters to the lampposts nearest to where each of the servicemen had lived. My brother and I went to see the ones who were related to our grandmothers family. Many people added poppies (some handmade, crocheted or knitted), flowers, crosses etc. It was a time of deep appreciation of the sacrifices made so many, many years before. Surely you don't think think this is wrong?

Yep, this did it for me. It was a veiled insult of some kind. I had a feeling from the get go about the OP but sadly wasted my time responding.

Plenty of people here have explained that the poppy appeal is about supporting those who have served not about supporting the armed forces themselves, but - totally separate to the poppy appeal - I would say there is nothing wrong with supporting or even celebrating the armed forces.

I'm not happy to be living in a world where we have the terrible evil of humans organising the killing of other humans to achieve their country's goals. But if I live in a democracy that has taken the reasonable decision of having armed forces to ensure our democracy is protected from nasty threats, then I should definitely be supporting those armed forces in preparing to meet such threats. And I can celebrate every member of those forces who is prepared to take the risk to their own life in serving. It's not a comfortable thought to think that as UK citizens we fund an organisation that is intended to fight wars, but that's a symptom of the dangerous world we live in, and I'm not going to treat soldiers as an embarrassment for their willingness to fight on my behalf. (I'm not naive or blind to the fact that not everything about the armed forces is honourable and pure, but there is an ideal that I think is worth upholding).

Yeah exactly. Some people do love to make out that some people have nefarious reasons for wearing a poppy though!

One parent from one, one from the another 🤔

I wear one to remind me of people who sacrificed their lives, three great uncles were POWs in WW2, my grandfather was in the RAF. My great grandfather and another great uncle died in bomb raids.

My family were on different sides in WW2 so I feel for you.

War is a terrible thing and sometimes you are just on the wrong side of history but it's important not to forget.

I can’t see how the poppy is associated with racism politics left or right and definitely not class as the op has asked .
I’ve always associated the poppy as being as showing respect for all those who have lost their lives during conflicts regardless of race nationality creed or colour etc and as for class a bullet or bomb doesn’t differentiate wether your a lord or ordinary working man/ woman

Nothing good old Google can’t sort for u, and ur question is very loaded.