White Poppies

The Royal Canadian Legion is upset that peace activists are selling white poppies to be worn on Remembrance Day. People selling the poppies are saying that they are kind of the same, they just celebrate peace and remind us that is what we should work towards.

The big difference is where the money goes. This is what the legion does with the money they make from red poppy sales:

Today, the Poppy Campaign is one of the Royal Canadian Legion's most important programs. The money raised from poppy sales provides direct assistance for ex-service people in financial distress, as well as funding for medical appliances and research, home services, care facilities, and numerous other purposes.

Poppy Facts

Where does the money for white poppies go? Nobody is saying, but I would bet that it is going to fund the effort of the group promoting them, the Edmonton chapter of the Women in Black, other peace groups and the retailers who carry them.

I don't know about the rest of you, but I would rather my poppy money go to help veterans in need than to a bunch of women that stand around in black clothes to make a point. I'm not against the Women in Black in general, but I am against them taking money away from our veterans and twisting the one day a year we set aside to acknowledge the lives lost into some kind of political statement.

to white poppies for Remembrance Day.

Just don't buy a white poppy.

If these people had any respect for the people who fought and died for the very freedoms they enjoy today, they would too be buying a red poppy, wearing it with pride, and then finding a less insulting way to raise money for their cause.

Are these poppies Papaver somniferum?

If so I don't really care what color they are, I'd still buy lots of them!

Sorry, the poppies aren't real ones, you cheeky . I have a hard time believing that you would choose to wear a poppy brought out by a group of women against the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, on the day set aside to remember the servicemen/women who lost their lives during wartime.


D4rk Kn1ght,

I most certainly will not be buying a white poppy. I don't want to show disrespect to the veterans when I attend the ceremony in three days time. If these groups wanted to sell their white poppies for International Peace Day, then I might consider purchasing and wearing one.

I'm with Duzey on this one. I feel this white poppy is an insult and a slap to the face of who served over seas.

The poppy is to signify each and every life lost in battle. Creating a symbol of peace is a nice gesture, but not one that takes from what the poppy truly is. Our donations are essential to the Royal Canadian Legion. These branches are from coast to coast, most communities have a few. I would not be caught dead on November 11th with a white poppy on.

Shame on those who concocted this scheme.

Originally posted by Duzey
Sorry, the poppies aren't real ones, you cheeky

. I have a hard time believing that you would choose to wear a poppy brought out by a group of women against the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, on the day set aside to remember the servicemen/women who lost their lives during wartime.

Sorry, I'm just unfamiliar with this Canadian thing...that was about the only thing I could say, I should have probably stayed out of the discussion.

Anyway, I'd never use the poppies to wear if they were real.

[edit on 11/8/2006 by djohnsto77]

There's no reason to stay out of the discussion. I'm not picky. I guess red poppies are more of a Commonwealth thing.

The poppies are traditionally made out of felt. I have about 20 of them in a drawer somewhere. I don't want to throw them out, but every year I buy a new one because the money goes to help support veterans in need. The Red Poppy Fund is a great cause.

It should also be noted that the production of these white poppies in Canada is illegal. It is a registered symbol of the Royal Canadian Legion, in any colour, and they have not given permission for it to be used.


[edit on 8-11-2006 by Duzey]

californian poppies are really fantastic. they are bright color orange, can be picked and eaten. you sound very nice. mabye in edmonton you can have a greeen house with orange poppies.

We have white poppies here too. If you want to make a peace statement then do so but not at the expense of remembering the fallen

But I also object to the Scottish 4 leaf poppy, and the 'posh' ones some politicians wear in the misguided belief it shows they care more - uniform headstones = uniform poppies IMO

BTW it was originally an American idea

Moina Michael, an American war secretary with the YMCA and a writer, was touched by McCrae's work. She bought some red poppies, wore one herself and sold the remainder to her friends giving the money raised to ex-Servicemen. And so a tradition began.

www.veteransagency.mod.uk...

I don't know how to break it to you, but in Canada we use the four-leaf poppy. We even had a quarter in 2004 that had the four-leaf poppy on it.



I didn't know it was an American lady that started the tradition of wearing the red poppy. to her. I also found out that they do use the red poppy in the US, but it's on Memorial Day. It's the American Legion's symbol as well.

I'm learning all sorts of new things today.

Guys that's fine by me if it's fine by you

My objection is that Scotland is part of the UK, those dead lads fought in the British Army along with Welsh, Londoners, lads from Cheshire etc etc - to use their memory now to highlight national differences seems wrong to me somehow.

After the war there was a policy of standard headstones, not burying by rank or exclusively by regiment etc - they were all together, dead in a common cause. To highlight differences now seems to be rewriting history.

Obviously Canadians, Australians etc etc fought in their own armies so it's a different, separate case.

Good to be reminded of the Commonwealth / Empire contribution - I'll remember it at 11.00 on the 11th/12th

I can see where you're coming from with that.

Remembrance Day should not be used for political purposes. That's just disrespectful to the veterans.