Red v white poppies

[Malhao]

AIBU to be unimpressed that the staff at school are trying to sell my kids red poppies without explaining the symbolism behind them?

I don't agree with the concept of war and am contemplating sending them in wearing white poppies (I've explained the difference to them and they both agree with the principles behind the white poppies) but wonder if they'll get picked on for standing out?

@Malhao

AIBU to be unimpressed that the staff at school are trying to sell my kids red poppies without explaining the symbolism behind them?

I don't agree with the concept of war and am contemplating sending them in wearing white poppies (I've explained the difference to them and they both agree with the principles behind the white poppies) but wonder if they'll get picked on for standing out?

Well I'm not sure you should be explaining poppies to your children either as you clearly don't understand the symbolism

Thoroughly disrespectful. Please do your research.

Maybe you would be better off home-schooling if the school have got things so dreadfully wrong.

This argument comes up every year.

The red poppy is in remembrance of not just the service personnel that lost their lives in WW1 and WW2, it is also every service personnel that have lost their life in every conflict since.

I have had first hand experience of how the RBL help military or ex military personnel. They do really good work, so I support them (but you have to go back about 125 years at least in my family to lose a military link).

Wearing a red poppy does not mean you agree with concept of war, what an odd thing to take from it.
Which charity does the money from white poppies go to?

If you choose to wear white, red or both together, it helps to let the school know your views (and those of your kids) and facilitate discussion in and out of school.

That is what schools are supposed to be for. Learning.

@MilduraS

The poppy isn't just about remembering ww1 and ww2 veterans. If it was, I wouldn't feel so conflicted about wearing one. It's supports every British soldier who has been involved in a conflict since the world wars. That includes the soldiers who were involved in the troubles in Ireland.

And that’s part of the debate. The British army have done terrible things in their history, including in Ireland, of course. For some of us, the red poppy symbolism ignores the British army’s terrible history in some countries and celebrates the more honourable parts of its history.

Red poppies are the furthest thing away from supporting war. They are a symbol to remember. Why does everything have to be turned and twisted into something else???

@Aurora791

The poppy is a visual reminder of the scale and impact of war and why we must never let death and destruction on that scale happen again. It’s particularly relevant now more than ever because we’re losing those generations who lived through ww2 (and ww1 already) and so their legacy and impact will dim from living memory. ‘We will remember them’ says it all really for the reason we wear them.

If the red poppy always meant this and only this then no one would object to it. But anyone can see the lines get blurred sometimes, moving away from from ‘what a terrible thing to war is’ to ‘support our armed forces’ and patriotism. Especially when organisations like the BBC enforce compulsory poppy wearing. The white poppies were first made in the 1930s as a response to greater military involvement in the ceremony at the Cenotaph rather than it all being about grieving families. OP, you could send your children in with both. They can explain that the white poppy commemorates all victims of war, including civilians, and of all nationalities. Personally I think that this is very important, remembering that it’s not just ‘our brave heroes’ who suffer from war.

There is really no need to phrase it in terms of red versus white.

I agree, they really don't contradict each other. For me its about acknowledging the cost of war, remebering those who paid and hoping for peace.

The white poppy can be seen as dishonouring those who died in wars. By all means, make your political statement, but choosing to do so on a day dedicated to remembering these people is at best insensitive to the family and friends of those who died. I know people who fall into this category and would be hurt and angry to see a white poppy intruding on this occasion.

@Prattypitel

No other country in the world is doing this poppy thing.However,Britain is a country that is quite ready to involve itself in a war.I find the whole thing totally baffling.And why do we have a populist government now,when we are proud to have fought off a populist leader in the 2,world war???

The poppy is used in outside of the UK in some other parts of Anglo Saxon influenced world out of respect for the fallen.

FWIW many here in France will be wearing a bleuet (Cornflower) whilst attending sad ceremonies at war memorials up and down the country.

And can I be the n’th one here to point out poppies/bleuets are not worn to glorify war, far from it.

vanessafrance.wordpress.com/2019/11/10/cornflowers-and-poppies-symbols-of-world-war-i/

OP I applaud you for thinking outside the box, a rarity these days! However to clarify, the red poppy represents remembrance the British Armed Forces,. The white poppy represents all victims, military and civilians of all and aims to stop the exclusion of non armed forces from Remembrance events. So yes given these reasons I always wear s white poppy too.

@MilduraS

You mean the Troubles on Northern Ireland, which is a different country to Ireland?

Found the link which points to the Women's CooperThe Symbolism of the White Poppy in Britain
9 November 2021 by @swanseahistory
The interwar period brought a wave of cultural change, and the white peace poppy was a fringe commemorative symbol that exemplified these changes. The white peace poppy was organised and sold by the Women’s Cooperative Guild, typically working-class women who had lost multiple family members to the Great War and sought to exercise their newly found democratic rights. Introduced in 1933 and sold from 1934, the white poppy stood on a pacifist platform, propagating the idea that society should actively remember all victims of war, in order to ensure that a total war would not break out again. It is important to note that the concept of the white peace poppy did not seek to overtake, replace, or cause any offence to the Haig Fund in 1933 when it was proposed to be sold alongside the Flanders poppy. However, its mere suggestion, to a militarist culture, was immediately viewed as an ‘insult’ and a challenge. This led to strong opposition and resentment toward the white poppy and the women proposing its distribution. The opposition came from militarist sections of society, as well as from sections of society that dared not offend the establishment that had secured victory in 1918 and soldiers had sacrificed for the war.ative Guild in the 1930s. Quote from Swansea History:

And link to the site for more:
history.swansea.ac.uk/?p=399

Women's Cooperative Guild in 1930s. Women (mums) who had lost sons in the wars.

[quote Unhomme]@MilduraS

You mean the Troubles on Northern Ireland, which is a different country to Ireland?[/quote]
I'm from Ireland and where I grew up it was all called Ireland. That's not really the post of this thread though so let's not derail it.

@Prattypitel

No other country in the world is doing this poppy thing.However,Britain is a country that is quite ready to involve itself in a war.I find the whole thing totally baffling.And why do we have a populist government now,when we are proud to have fought off a populist leader in the 2,world war???

We wear them in Australia!

My son is in 6th grade, they learnt about the red, white and purple poppies last term and the different things they stand for.

He wore a red poppy to school today and led the school’s Remembrance Day service as school captain, which included the meaning of the poppies in his speech (written by the school)

Every year they always do Remembrance Day activities that usually include making paper poppies and learning about them.

We do a lot of work in the school I work in as we are a school with 2 barracks in the catchment. Many of our families are forces families. We have close links with Lady Haig's poppy factory and have taken nursery children to visit and learn. Today will be poignant at 11am in the school.

Red poppies are absolutely not pro war. They are to remember the fallen

This with bells on. It's not "isn't war great". I will wear my poppy - a red one - today to remember all those people who went away to War and didn't come back.

Poppies are red. They are not white, or purple.

I think you need to go back to your history books and also realise how offensive many people find this. I'm proudly wearing my red poppy today in memory of my grandfather and great uncles who all fought in the wwii. Not all of them surviving.

Lest we forget

@MLMshouldbeillegal

Red poppies are absolutely not pro war. They are to remember the fallen

This with bells on. It's not "isn't war great". I will wear my poppy - a red one - today to remember all those people who went away to War and didn't come back.

Poppies are red. They are not white, or purple.

I agree. Not in recent times, but in two world wars, the soldiers didn’t choose to fight they were drafted. I do a lot of family history work and recently came across several civilians who died when their house was hit. So I see the red poppy as remembering those who lost their lives, soldiers and civilians.

@Valeriane

You can wear a white poppy if you like but just be aware that most people will be thinking 🙄

These people are muppets. They have no idea what a red Poppy symbolises. Look at me all woke and wanting peace wearing my white poppy.

The red poppy does not glamourise war at all, ask any vet or serving military if they want peace!

The white poppy just makes me so angry. Ask yourself this White Poppy Wearers -

Why wear it now? Why not choose another time of year?

Why a poppy? Why not some other flower?

And finally do you even know where you're money is going or are you so desperate to jump on the woke bus you haven't bothered to check?

I seriously could not be friends with someone who wore a white poppy.

@BessieFinknottle

If it was just about remembering the fallen soldiers of WW1 it would be one thing. It's not. It raises money to support present-day army veterans.

A couple of months ago when Afghanistan was falling due to the allied forces pulling out there was thread after thread saying that our army should stay to keep the Taliban under control. I said at the time to give it a couple of months and there’d be posts saying “I’m not buying a poppy, they support today’s soldiers”.

This country is strange. People bang their gums about not wanting an armed force, they don’t want to support them and god forbid their kids ever want to join up. Yet as soon as there’s a crisis, the very same people are volunteering them to do the dirty work that they want nothing to do with.

What do you think would happen if we didn’t have people who were happy to join up? Your precious kids would be made to, that’s what. So be grateful that people like my husband did, and my son has, hey?

@Justcallmebebes

I think you need to go back to your history books and also realise how offensive many people find this. I'm proudly wearing my red poppy today in memory of my grandfather and great uncles who all fought in the wwii. Not all of them surviving.

Lest we forget

My father, passed away now, was in the Royal Air Force and I respect his choices.

At home in Wales there were wreaths laid at the cenotaph, some red and some white.

In the silence, at the eleventh hour in the grief and memories I think people understood each other.