The History of Memorial Day - Part 3

The symbol of Memorial Day has come to be the red poppy.  This vibrant flower came to symbolize the sacrifice of those that gave their lives for our country on the battlefield.  Other nations such as England, New Zealand and Australia also use the red poppy for their Memorial Day observances.

The history of this Memorial Day symbol began during World War 1.  A Canadian physician, John McCrae, serving in Belgium during WW1 observed that red poppies were growing around the graves of fallen soldiers.  A few days earlier McCrae had to bury a close friend of his that was killed in action.  Upon viewing the poppies growing among the graves, McCrae was deeply moved and wrote the poem, “In Flanders Field.”  It was written on May 3, 1915.

In Flanders fields the poppies blow

Between the crosses, row on row,

That mark our place; and in the sky

The larks, still bravely singing, fly

Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago

We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,

Loved and were loved, and now we lie

In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:

To you from failing hands we throw

The torch; be yours to hold it high.

If ye break faith with us who die

We shall not sleep, though poppies grow

In Flanders fields.

In November of 1918, American educator and YMCA volunteer Moina Bell Michael happened to read “In Flanders Field” as it was published in a magazine.  After reading the poem she felt something must be done to not “break faith” with those that had sacrificed their lives for our nation.  She wrote a poem in response to “In Flanders Field” and began a campaign to make the red poppy the national symbol of Memorial Day.  Here is her poem, “We Shall Keep the Faith.”

Oh! You who sleep in “Flanders Fields,”

Sleep sweet—to rise anew!

We caught the Torch you threw

And, holding high, we keep the Faith

With All who died.

We cherish, too, the poppy red

That grows on fields where valor led;

It seems to signal to the skies

That blood of heroes never dies,

But lends a lustre to the red

Of the flower that blooms above the dead

In Flanders Fields.

And now the Torch and Poppy Red

We wear in honor of our dead.

Fear not that ye have died for naught;

We’ll teach the lesson that ye wrought

In Flanders Fields.

Moina Bell Michael worked tirelessly for two years to make the red poppy the national symbol for Memorial Day.  Her efforts culminated in 1920 when the American Legion voted in approval of the red poppies symbolism of the ultimate sacrifice.  And, working with Congress, the American Legion worked to have the Friday before Memorial Day designated as “National Poppy Day.”  

I wasn’t aware of why the red poppy became the symbol of Memorial Day until I did some research.  Now that I’ve discovered its history, I’ll be wearing a red poppy this Memorial Day in honor of those that gave their lives for our nation. For as the poem states, “And now the…Poppy Red, we wear in honor of our dead.”