For a century, the red Remembrance Poppy has been a symbol of remembrance and a prime method of fundraising for Veterans around the world. Inspired by John McCrae’s “In Flanders Fields”, Madame Anna Guérin, later christened “The Poppy Lady from France”, championed the idea to create an ‘Inter-Allied Poppy Day’ after WWI.
On 4 July 1921, Madame Guérin spoke about her ‘Inter-Allied Poppy Day’ idea to men of the Canadian Great War Veterans’ Association (precursor of the Canadian Legion). On 6 July, the Canadian veterans adopted the poppy, the first of the British Empire veterans to do so. In honour of the anniversary, the poppystore.ca is selling a commemorative reminiscent of the first Remembrance Poppies distributed after the First World War
Since then, the Legion and its members have upheld this tradition of Remembrance, distributing poppies to tens of millions of Canadians wear a Poppy as a visual pledge to honour Canada’s Veterans and their sacrifices. Poppy is distributed freely but the Legion gratefully accepts donations to the Poppy Fund.
Get your Poppy at any Canadian Legion Branch, from volunteers and poppy boxes in your area. Canadians can also visit MyPoppy.ca and download a Digital Poppy to complement the traditional lapel poppy. This year, to commemorate the 100-year anniversary of the Poppy, the Legion created the Immortal Poppy. A collection of digital Poppies features a 3D replica of a real poppy picked from Flanders Fields. 118,000 names of fallen Canadian soldiers grace its petals and are linked to the blockchain, with 10 notable fallen featured across the NFTs – immortalizing the memory of those who fought for our freedoms.