why do you wear a poppy?

[oiolehnvn]

Lots of red poppies around us at the moment. Disclaimer I am not British but come from a country that is currently waging a war, in fact technically two countries that have been in the news for waging wars and have always been uncomfortable with people supporting or celebrating our army. 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?

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 live in a city with a large military base. There is a Remembrance Day Service held here every year . . . . it is extremely well attended by people of all ages. My father served in the army during the second world war and my brother in the wars in Iraq & Afghanistan. I wear a poppy & attend the Remembrance Day Service to remember friends of my father & brother who didn't return home and to show gratefulness for the sacrifices of so many, many service personnel.

Can I suggest that you watch the Festival of Remembrance on BBC1 on Saturday evening & the Service of Remembrance from the Cenotaph on Sunday morning? The individual stories of courage & loss which are told at these events are poignant & heartbreaking and a reminder to us all of why we should always remember the sacrifices made for us to live in peace

Not sure if this poem has been shared yet but for me it is why poppies will always be associated with WW1 and Remembrance Sunday: www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/47380/in-flanders-fields

I donated this morning and got an enamel badge - it has the year 2025 on it so it is (quite rightly) only for one year.
Im grateful for all the sacrifices of our service people and will continue to donate and support the cause forever

I don't wear one / but only because I don't remember to change it from jacket to jacket etc, I buy one each year to support veterans.

Proud Canadian visiting London and yes wearing a poppy.
In memory of family who served in WW1 and WW2 along with ongoing efforts at peacekeeping.

Google will easily answer this.

The only thing that comes along with poppy season, as regular as clockwork, are goady threads about poppies.

I can get the information in terms of this is what it's for etc, but it doesnt tell me anything about the rationale or the emotion that people associate with buying and wearing it.

To those who have asked - I have family that has died fighting Nazism, I also have family who died in the camps. However, I also have the experience of Putin and Netanyahu using that remembrance to wage two wars against the neighbours so I guess personally I find that a bit more of a problematic memory. But thats doesnt mean that this would extend to anyone else living in the Uk.

Ok so you have been in the UK for some years now but don’t understand the poppy? Hmmm… there is literally media on this issue and what the poppy means every single year.

I call BS

Wow! That's me told. Quite a generalisation too.

Personally I think wear one or don't wear one. We have the freedom of choice.

Having close contact with miliary who have helped in the Ukraine I'm not sure we should condemn all modern soldiers to the fiery pit!

My great grandfather’s name is on the Thiepval memorial. He left a widow with 6 children, my grandma was 4 when her father was killed. That’s why I wear a poppy.

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.

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.

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.

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

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"?

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.

@StarlightRobot ·I've lived here for three years and Dc only just started primary school. So yes I was curious about how others felt about wearing one. I literally dont see how thats being offensive. Am not saying they shouldnt, I was just curious as to how they think/feel about it.

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

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 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.

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.

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.

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.

Totally agree with this.