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?

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.

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.]

Interesting first post.

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.

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.

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

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

This.

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

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?"

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.

I dont buy or wear a poppy because I dont go anwhere but I do donate to the RBL each year. My father was a partially sighted veteran and the British Legion helped him to fight for a war pension. They really helped my parents when he became too blind to work. They also arranged a guide dog for him. Every year they arranged for him to go down to London and he marched past the cenotaph with other veterans. I always watch the service in memory of those who have died in war protecting this country.

I did not always get on with my father as a child but I respect the service he gave duing the war. He was in the navy and was torpedoed twice.

As a mark of respect to those who died in battle. And for my Grandfather fought in the First World War. It’s not about glorifying or celebrating war it’s about our losses and mourning them.
HTH

I wear a poppy as a visible reminder of the sacrifice others have made, and continue to make, so I can live as I choose. It’s important to me that my kids understand the sacrifices made in both world wars, on all sides, and that war is far from glorious. I think given the current political climate it’s important to recognise lives lost and destroyed in wars.

I wear a poppy in remembrance of my uncle and all those like him. He volunteered for service before he was called up. He was killed in North Africa at the age of 22. The telegram informing my grandparents that he had been killed arrived with my mother's 10th birthday cards. Despite the age difference mum and he were very close and she missed him until the day she died. She would often talk about him and wonder what our family would have looked like had he survived,married and had a family. I still have the letters he wrote to her. If not for him and other brave men who knows what our lives would be like now had Hitler won.

This is my view and I realise other people have other opinions to which they are fully entitled. I do not believe people should be made to feel uncomfortable because they don't want to wear a poppy.

That's not really how your OP came across.
Your OP was more - war is bad, armies fight wars, poppies celebrate armies so [faux naivety] why would anyone wear a poppy.

Because my husband's uncle drowned in HMS Hood fighting for me to be able to write this and his father never recovered mentally from losing his brother and himself being on the convoy ships delivering food as sitting ducks waiting to be torpedoed.

My great-grandfather was a peasant farmer. My FIL's brother was a working-class 18 yr old from Aberdeen. He perished at Ypres and has no known grave. His best friend was a working-class lad from the north of England who somehow joined the Gordon Highlanders. He survived for a few weeks but died of his wounds.

My great-uncle who was gassed in WW1 was a coalminer. Other family members who were injured were peasant farmers or miners.

My FIL was injured in WW1. He received the Military Medal for saving the lives of several man who were wounded and trapped in a sap. He was a farm labourer before he joined up. The event for which he won his medal took place while he was a stretcher bearer.

Totally missing point of thread but how can you be from two countries?

I also dislike the way WW2 is used by some, and I hate any politicisation of it. I wear a poppy to remember all those who died in conflict, or who came home and were never the same, or who came home and did their best to improve the country. I include my dad in that, who was in the RAF in WW2, came home, became a teacher and volunteered consistently for the Royal British Legion for the rest of his life, helping to raise money and also doing actual practical community work with ex (and current) servicemen and their families, and the families of deceased servicemen. I grew up seeing him march on Remembrance Sunday and often reading the lines a PP quoted, or The Kohima Epitaph, in the service. It means a lot to me and reminds me of him as he died some years ago.
I dislike the way everyone on tv or in public life is forced to wear one though. Not in the spirit of the thing at all.

@BringBackCatsEyes thats a bit unfair. My OP tried to explain my own context and why am curious but also that it's a bit different from where I come from. I am not saying that Brits wearing them is bad - but I also dont feel like I can ask anyone in real life about it. Looking at the British legion website doesnt tell me how people engage with poppies today.

Oh is it one country that's now two? As you were...

As a mark of respect and to honour the dead who went to war and sacrificed their lives to protect us (the ones who would be turning in their graves if they could see the state of the country now!)

I don’t think it’s a class thing as mentioned in one of your following posts, I work in quite a ‘posh’ area and live in a nearby ex council estate and most people wear them.
I recently explained why we wear them to our youngest child and told him what my parents told me, that we wear them as a sign of remembrance for people lost in all wars in the fight for freedom against people who have tried to rule by force and terror. The poppy was picked because in the carnage of the battles fields when there was so much destruction somehow the wild poppy flower still grew.
The money raised goes to help veterans, we don’t wear poppies because we are celebrating war, but as sign that we remember those that made the ultimate sacrifice in the defence of many who would be unable to defend themselves.
My work brings me in to contact with the last few veterans from ww2, their stories are harrowing and should be remembered.

I am very much of a peace building mindset, and the Poppy / Remembrance Sunday is a reminder of the terrible price that war inflicts on individuals and families.

I also like that the proceeds from poppy sales go to the Royal British Legion.

The charity do good work with services and ex services personnel who need support. Such as my grandmother, who they helped with claiming a pension that she did not realise she was entitled to. As a vulnerable elderly person, who had given so much during WW2, the extra money made a world of difference to her quality of life in her final years.