I am watching CBC’s coverage of the US mid-term elections because they’re slightly less annoying than CNN/C-SPAN/Fox/ABC/etc. All the Canadian News people are wearing poppy pins, which led me down a Wikipedia rabbit hole on how the poppy flower is a symbol for remembering military service members. It dates back to a WWI era poem, and also inspired France to do create a similar bleuet de France.
It also led me to this 2015 article in which some Canadians considered it “defacing” the symbol to use a safer pin design than an inches long stick pin. I’m just glad USians aren’t the only that get mouth-frothing stupid about arbitrary symbols. https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgary/remembrance-day-poppy-pin-that-won-t-fall-off-1.3311799
It irks me every year seeing people who love the military wear poppies. If you really care about dead troops you should probably stop supporting the troop killing machine.
The Royal Canadian Legion sells a black centre pin for use with the disposable poppys that are distributed every year. I have had one for a long time, it’s the greatest.
Edit to say: I’ve only seen the defacing argument with regard to using a random pin (ex. a tiny Canadian flag pin) instead of something that maintains the integrity of the symbol by still looking like a poppy.
It also led me to this 2015 article in which some Canadians considered it “defacing” the symbol to use a safer pin design than an inches long stick pin. I’m just glad USians aren’t the only that get mouth-frothing stupid about arbitrary symbols.
There’s also been a controversial movement of wearing white poppies, or “peace” poppies. The idea is that if red poppies are specifically for soldiers then white poppies are for all victims of war, most of whom are non-combatants.
I like the idea of a white “peace” poppy. I assume used as a quiet but visible way to protest, eg, any support of the a Israeli government’s genocide of Palestinian people.
Seriously not a fan of people stretching out when they wear the poppy. It’s for November 11.
The legion has been selling them for 2 weeks or more now so I mean, I think they are the fucking authority there bud.
I hadn’t actually realised this was a uniquely Canadian thing
Canadian, British, Australian and New Zealand.
Oh, somehow I read over the “and commonwealth” part of the title
It’s also a UK thing
And how. If they catch you not wearing a poppy in November they throw you in jail.
Yeah, to you it’s an arbitrary symbol but to others, from the very point of inception, it was a visible reminder of the once very human friend, partner, parent, sibling etc that had been killed in conflict and would no longer be part of your life ever again.
Grave stones are just lumps of rock, but people get upset when I take a piss on one - go figure. Emotional humans are weird.
