Remembrance Day Poppy
The History of the Remembrance Day Poppy
The Remembrance Day Poppy has a long history in New Zealand. It's a story about how this flower became an icon in New Zealand.
The Flanders Poppy, also known as the red poppy, has long been associated with deaths on the battlefield, and is a symbol of resurrection. This comes from the fact that the red poppy was the very first plant that grew in the excavated soil of the soldiers' graves in the Flanders area after World War I.
Verses written by Lieutenant-Colonel John McCrae, a medical officer in the Canadian Armed Forces, began the process through which the red poppy became known as the remembrance symbol.
In the month of September in the year 1920, the American Legion adopted the Remembrance Day Poppy. There was a French woman who attended that conference, and she began to promote the poppy throughout the world as a symbol used to revere the war's dead.
The French woman, Madame E. Guérin, thought out the idea that widows could make artificial poppies in Northern France, which veterans' organizations could sell world-wide for their own dependents and veterans, as well as for the benefit of French children left destitute after the war. In 1920 and 1921, Guerin and her representatives spoke to veterans' organizations in New Zealand, Australia, Canada, Britain and the United States, urging them to adopt the Remembrance Day Poppy as a symbol of reverence for the dead of World War I. Madame Guerin later became known as the “Poppy Lady”, and by the time their work was done, the red poppy became a symbol worldwide.
The first New Zealand Poppy Day was on April 24, 1922, and it had an enthusiastic turnout. Many areas sold out of their Remembrance Day Poppy pins early that day. This was the start of a Poppy Day Appeal tradition, as the RSA's main means of raising money to help the returned military personnel and their dependents.
The New Zealand disabled veterans began making their own poppies in Christchurch RSA and at Auckland. By 1940, Christchurch RSA was making a larger remembrance day poppy to be placed on vehicles. Christchurch RSA is to this day responsible for manufacturing poppies in New Zealand.
During World War II, the public again responded to the wish to remember their war dead by breaking records for purchasing the poppies on Poppy Day. By the year 1945, over 750,000 poppies were distributed across New Zealand. Poppy Day was and is set to serve the needs of the next generation of returning military personnel and their dependents.
The Remembrance Day Poppy is visible not only on Poppy Day, but also at the funerals of returning military servicemen and women. It is often laid at war memorial sites in New Zealand.