Arcadia England

Have you started to notice red poppies appearing on commuters’ lapels, on TV news anchors and politicians of various persuasions?  

If you visited the Tower of London during Orientation you’ll probably recall that the poppy is a powerful symbol of the British and Empire fatalities in World War 1 – particularly high profile this year because to the centenary of the start of WW1 in 1914. Nearly a million British and Empire soldiers were killed 1914-18 and over 2 million wounded. This year, the moat of the Tower is being filled with a million ceramic poppies.

Why the poppy?

On the Western Front, the trench system that ran from the Channel coast of Belgium to the Swiss border, soldiers noticed that despite the churning mud, splintered trees and utter devastation wreaked by high explosives, red poppies would appear every spring, especially on graves. The symbolism of red – blood and sacrifice – and the triumph of nature led to the poppy’s adoption as a symbol of remembrance – nowadays not just for the fallen of WW1 but of all British and Commonwealth dead from 1914 to the withdrawal of British troops from Afghanistan at the start of this week.

But why do they suddenly appear towards the end of October, beginning of November? This relates to the commemoration of the Armistice “on the 11^th hour of the 11^th day of the 11^th month” of 1918 the guns finally fell silent. Thus Remembrance Sunday is always the closest Sunday to November 11^th and is the occasion for official wreath laying and a minutes’ silence.

How can poppies be controversial?

Some have questioned whether the strong expectation that people should wear a poppy amounts to “poppy fascism” or extreme political correctness that limits the  critical examination of how wars are justified and whether soldiers often die in vain. This month especially, (British forces finally withdrew from Afghanistan on Monday this week) British public opinion largely sees the 13 year war “not worth fighting” which casts a long shadow over the 453 British soldiers who died there.

Thinking about how public memory is constructed and reinforced in Britain might also lead you to reflect on the ways in which public commemoration of loss works in the USA.