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Saturday 7 November 2020

A Pause For Remembrance & Ask What Your Poppy Is Made Of

Poppy brooch
My new poppy brooch...
Around this time of year, culminating on November 11, countries belonging to the Commonwealth wear poppies to honour those who made the ultimate sacrifice in war times. (Although the U.S. has Veterans Day on that same date, Americans who have adopted the poppy symbol wear them on Memorial Day in May, which is the official day for honouring their war dead.) It's a small gesture, and the very least we can do to remember and appreciate the men and women who gave their lives for our various freedoms.

The flower, made famous by Canadian Lieutenant-Colonel John McCrae in his 1915 poem "In Flanders Fields", are mass produced annually as part of the Royal Canadian Legion's fund raising campaign. They are made out of plastic and are attached to a stick pin.

Over nineteen million are manufactured for Remembrance Day every year.

Since I was a kiddie in school, I have regularly needed to buy more than one poppy throughout the campaign. That's because they are seemingly made to be lost, typically in record time. If you pin it on without a blob of chewing gum to secure it to your jacket, odds are it's going to be gone the next time you look down.




It's extremely frustrating.

Especially since, in recent years — as with many things, unfortunately — there has been enough shaming of supposed non poppy wearers that you just don't want to be accosted with the question of "Why aren't you wearing a poppy??" What do you mean? I am wearing a poppy! Oh... I guess I lost another one.

Canadian Poppy
An example of Canada's Remembrance Day poppy... designed to be lost!

Ironically enough, yesterday — in a relatively short-lived moment of corporate madness — U.S.-based Whole Foods mandated and later walked back an order that poppies could not be worn by employees in stores across Canada because they were not an approved part of the standard uniform. Oy.

Several years ago, the annual poppy campaign made stickers available and I grabbed one of those instead. See? I still have it. It is, however, somewhat lacking in sophistication.

Poppy Sticker
Poppy as a sticker...

Last year, after yet another instance of buying a poppy at the mall and then getting back to my car half an hour later sans poppy, I decided to opt for a permanent solution.

I went online and purchased four poppy brooches (as shown at the top of this post) on Amazon. It cost me just over eight dollars for all four and this year, I am happily wearing a poppy that will not end up in our waterways.

Poppy Brooch Back
The back of my brooch...

Because, yes, I have always been disturbed about these little pieces of plastic — and pins! — ending up who knows where, affecting who knows what. If you believe that even a small change can make a difference, then you may want to forgo that plastic poppy.

But for change to happen, we have to make a loud enough noise for various parties to hear.


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In the last decade, a movement called No Stone Left Alone has popped up across Canada, having originated in my home city. Theoretically, it's a moving and inspiring practice whereby school children leave poppies on every grave (headstone) belonging to service men and women. A local newspaper columnist wrote that over the past ten years, students have placed 298,277 poppies on Canadian headstones.

NoStoneLeftAlone.ca
image courtesy of NoStoneLeftAlone.ca...

As impactful as the gesture is, that represents an awful lot of plastic waste floating around. Because that's what happens after someone places a poppy on top of a headstone, however reverently: they blow away and ultimately become litter.

Maybe these same school children should come up with a more environmentally friendly way to ensure that no stone is left alone. Perhaps an art class project to make paper, felt or fabric poppies in conjunction with the event is the way to go.

DIY felt poppy by eSheep Designs
You don't need much to make a felt poppy...

It's so easy to make your own poppy.

Just cut three pieces of red felt in the shape of a peanut, a small circle out of black felt, and then stack and glue (or sew) them together. If it's meant to be worn, hot glue a clasp bar pin onto the back. (You can get small packages of five or ten of those in the craft section of most discount or dollar stores.)

No felt? Make it out of poster board. Apply a couple of coats of Mod Podge to each piece and the result should withstand light rain and snow. (Or, did you know there's an outdoor version of Mod Podge that will totally meet the demands?)

Either way, both versions are better than plastic.


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Part of the problem is...

You know how sometimes the best intentions are ground to a halt by crazy regulatory red tape? The reality is, the Royal Canadian Legion has a fairly restrictive trademark on the concept of poppy as Remembrance Day symbol.

Not only are they the only organization allowed to distribute poppies for this purpose, no one is allowed to "deface" the poppy that they distribute. Even swapping in a different centre pin — one designed to hold the poppy in place more securely — was frowned upon several years ago by the Legion.

Beaded poppy from PoppyStore.ca
image courtesy of PoppyStore.ca...
Also, no one is allowed to make any commercial profit from the poppy symbol. (I take it that the trademark doesn't extend world wide — or it's ignored by parties in other countries — since the poppy brooches that I purchased are widely available online.) Therefore, crafters who have made more environmentally friendly versions over the years for sale have been stopped, even if they intended to donate their profits to the Legion.

Meanwhile, the Legion itself has an online shop where they sell various poppy-themed items, some of which might raise eyebrows. I think there are four options for a brooch, including the beaded version shown here for $70 CAD. (I'm not sure why this one is so expensive; one made out of sealskin is actually "only" $60.) While I donate to the Poppy Fund every year, unfortunately, it's not on the scale of $70 at a time.

The good news is that a redesign of the poppy to use more biodegradable materials is currently being considered and we may see something more environmentally friendly in the near future. Let's hope. (Update November 6, 2022: The Canadian Legion says that this year's batch are biodegradable!) 

For now, I will wear my metal brooch, drop money into the donation boxes when I encounter them and take the time to remember and honour the people who sacrificed their lives to make ours and our world better. That is, after all, the whole point.

Given the tumultuous times that we're living in, let us truly not forget.

'Til next...

3 comments:

  1. I too can remember wearing poppies on Memorial Day in May that were made of red crepe paper and actually made by Veterans themselves. I was too young to understand why we wore red poppies, but I do know that I loved those little handmade flowers and would keep them in a scrapbook. Veteran's would come to our schools and sell us the poppies. Our parents were sent home notes about this so that we children could have money to buy one. Later when I was older they would be outside in front of grocery stores selling them. I don't recall what material they make them out of today, but those red crepe paper ones I thought were so beautiful!

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  2. It's such a part of my memory! My grandfather was a WWI disabled vet, and my uncle was an officer in the Canadian Armed Forces during WWII. They were both members of the Canadian Legion. I am American born with Canadian parents, so the line between my two countries has always been a bit blurred. I did not realize that we wear our poppies of remembrance on Memorial Day for the States and on Veteran's Day for my Canadian family--I wear them for both with equal pride. Lest We Forget.

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    Replies
    1. What a pleasant surprise to learn of your Canadian connections. It's so cool to be Canadian! ;-) I know, because I just spent over two hours shoveling a horrendous amount of snow.

      I wasn't aware of the distinction between Memorial Day and Veterans Day until I did some research for this blog post. Up to now, it had always been a minor curiosity as to why two days six months apart had the same purpose. Now I know they are different in that one is to remember those long gone and the other is to honour those who serve among us. Glad to know that these days continue to hold meaning for many people.

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