Do You know about Poppy Day ?

People in English-speaking countries wear artificial red flowers called poppies. Poppies symbolise remembrance : remembering people who died in wars.

During World War One (WW1) Soldiers saw poppies growing near the battlefields in Belgium and France. In the horror of the war, there were signs of life, but their red colour also resembled blood. A canadian Major, John Mc Crae, wrote about the poppies in a poem, "In Flanders Fields". After the war, two women, Maina Mickael in the U.S.A and Anna Guerin in France, promoted the idea of using artificial poppies to symbolise remembrance.

Poppy Day exists in Britain, the USA, Canada, Australia and New Zealand.

In Britain, Canada and Australia, people wear the poppies for Remembrance Day on 11 november. It originally commemorated the end of World War 1, but now it is for victims of all wars.

The poppies help people remember and they also help war veterans and their families. Disabled veterans can have jobs making the poppies. And the money received for more than 18 million poppies a year helps veteran projects.