Red Poppies: A Memorial Day Tradition to Remember Veterans

For most Americans, Memorial Day signifies the beginning of summer and opportunity for remembrance of those who have served our country during times of war and of peace. Officially, Memorial Day was first observed on May 30,1968 and was originally labeled Decoration Day.  In the following years, by an act of Congress, the day of remembrance was moved to the last Monday of each May and renamed Memorial Day.  The tradition of the red poppy has become a formality of Memorial Day which is often overlooked.

Inspired by a poem entitled, “In Flanders Fields”, the poppy has become the flower symbol for the Memorial Day Holiday. From the poem, written by Canadian physician and soldier John McCrae, we develop a sense that the poppy represents the blood shed by soldiers during times of war. Although the poem was written by McCrae, the poppy was first recognized as the Memorial Day flower in 1915 when a woman by the name of Moina Michael began to sell poppies in an effort to encourage further recognition of the day. Michael helped to begin the National Poppy movement and to commemorate her efforts a 3-cent stamp was created in her honor.

The poppy, by nature, is a wildflower. It’s seed will lie stagnant in the ground until it is disturbed. During times of war, soldiers would, inadvertently, churn ground as they marched though fields. The result was a beautiful and overabundant growth of poppy flowers found to flourish in conditions where most other flowers would die.  Also during war, poppies were often used by physicians in administering morphine to soldiers in pain as it produces a by-product opium painreliever.