Poppy goes digital in Canada this Remembrance Day
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The most visual representation of Remembrance Day has long been the bright red poppy pin.
Inspired by In Flanders Fields, the First World War poem written in 1915 by Canadian doctor and Lt. Col. John McCrae, an American academic made and sold silk red poppies that were brought by a French woman to England.
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That, in turn, led to the Royal British Legion, formed in 1921, ordering nine million of the poppies and selling them on Nov. 11 of that year in the first ever poppy appeal.
“Everybody knew about the poppy, all the military people and the soldiers that went to war, “ said Poppy Chairman Robert “Buck” Buchanan, of the Royal Canadian Legion’s Ontario Provincial Command.
“And, of course, we always associate the poppy with the poem, In Flanders Fields, so John McCrae was probably the biggest proponent. We started to recognize the symbol in 1921. (That poem) would have been the only exposure that folks that didn’t go to war would know about it.”
Buchanan, a retired Captain whose 40 year Canadian military service includes 30 years in the infantry and seven years in the reserves, says any donations gathered when the poppies are distributed are used to resupply the red flowers and assist veterans and their dependents.
“Any money that we get goes into a poppy trust fund,” he said. “And its public money in the care of Legions, and we have rules and regulations that tell us how it can be distributed and the focus is on veterans and their families.”
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Flash forward to 2018, and the 100th anniversary of the end of the First World War, and Canada’s poppy is also going digital for the first time to compliment the traditional lapel variety.
The updated version has been endorsed by everyone from Justin Bieber to Hockey Night in Canada’s Don Cherry and Ron MacLean.
“In an increasingly cashless society, we wanted to give people another way to support their Veterans,” Danny Martin, deputy director of The Royal Canadian Legion, said in a statement.
“The Legion’s new digital Poppy campaign will allow people to donate online and share their remembrance in a meaningful, personalized manner.”
Available at www.myPoppy.ca until Nov. 11, 2018, you can download it and share the digital poppy on social media as well as personalize it by adding your own writing and photos.
As for the traditional ones, Buchanan says the poppies are being worn this year from Oct. 27 until sunset on Nov. 11.
“And then people can keep them or a lot of people distribute them at the cenotaph when they go to their various ceremonies in the community.”
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