This year marks 100 years that the iconic poppy has been used as a symbol of remembrance of the costs and sacrifices of war.
For 100 years the Poppy has been the symbol of remembrance in Canada, as they famously bloomed in Flanders Field, where nothing else was blooming during the war, notes Garden Expert Mark Cullen
Cullen explained when the soil was turned up during battle, it was the poppy that was pushed up and bloomed in the midst of war.
Anna Guerin of France is credited with first proposing the red flower as a Remembrance Day symbol in the aftermath of the First World War.
The Great War Veterans’ Association of Canada — precursor to the Royal Canadian Legion — adopted the poppy symbol in 1921 and the flower has been worn in the weeks leading up to the annual Remembrance Day ceremony ever since.
For more on the 100 year anniversary of the Poppy, visit Legion.ca.
