“In Flanders fields the poppies blow/Between the crosses row on row.”

The immortal words written by John McCrae during the First World War have become an integral part of Remembrance Day ceremonies across Canada and in many other countries throughout the world. Inspired by the red flowers that grew on soldiers' graves in that Belgian field, the power of this poem not only conveys the “glories of war,” which was a common theme at the time, but opened the door for the poppy to become the most recognizable symbol of Remembrance Day across the country.

Prior to 1918, the poppy was merely a flower and a poetic device used by McCrae to set the stage for his ode to his fallen comrades, that was, until an American professor by the name of Moina Michael wrote a poem that was inspired by the three-year-old In Flanders Fields, entitled We Shall Keep the Faith. This poem was originally a reflection written from the point of view of the next generation promising to remember the war, and the lives lost in it, and includes the line “And now the torch and poppy red/We wear in honour of the dead,” a promise to continue to wear the poppy in remembrance.

During a War Secretaries' meeting in 1918, Michael presented her poem while wearing a silk poppy on her coat and carrying more to distribute among the other attendees of the meeting, making this the first recorded time that they had been worn in a remembrance capacity. Within three years, it had been adopted by the legions in Canada, the United Kingdom, and the U.S.A. as an official symbol of wartime remembrance as well as a way for the legions to raise funds for a variety of causes, predominantly toward veteran's affairs. Today, it is common to see the red plastic poppies on the left lapel of people all over Canada during the weeks preceding November 11.

Despite being a recognized symbol in many countries, the design and construction of the poppy itself varies from nation to nation. Canada has the two-piece poppy, a felt-covered plastic flower with a black centre held together by a pin. The United Kingdom favours a paper flower with two green leaves on a long green pin, a closer representation to the natural shape of the poppy as it grows in the wild.

Regardless of the form it takes, the poppy has been a long-lasting and potent symbol of the sacrifices that were made so many years ago, as well as the world's duty to remember, and ensure it never happens again.