White Poppies
With reference to the white poppy that I wore today the following blog posting from the cooperative news may be of interest:
As Remembrance Day approaches it is worth noting that there is an alternative to the ‘traditional’ red poppy.
The white poppy, which has been in existence for almost as long as the red, symbolises the belief that there are better ways to resolve conflicts than killing people.
And while most people rightly associate the British Legion with introducing the red poppy to the UK, it is perhaps less well known that it was an initiative of the Co-operative Movement to introduced white poppies a few years later.
Jan Melichar of the Peace Pledge Union (PPU) says the white poppy aims to decouple the idea of remembrance and memorial from military culture.
“When poppies were originally introduced prior to the Second World War, it was a time of increasing anxiety with remembrance being re-militarised. Remembrance had previously been something associated with grieving widows, but was being taken over by men and the military.”
Here’s a comment on poppies and remembrance day by local journalist and writer Lee Bachus.
“I wear a poppy, but mine does not seem to spew cliches and thinly veiled militaristic and moral drivel like squirts from a prank clown flower.”
