Remembrance Poppies

One enduring commemoration of World War I is the symbol of the red poppy, inspired by the brief poem “In Flanders Fields.” It was written by forty-two-year- old Canadian medical officer Lt. Col. John McCrae, soon after he presided over the funeral of his friend and fellow soldier Lt. Alexis Helmer. The verse observes that poppies readily grew in soil recently disturbed by the digging of soldiers’ graves. Lt. Helmer—hit by a German artillery shell on a Belgian battlefield—was just twenty-two years old.

McCrae sent the poem to The Spectator and Punch magazines. While the first declined the submission, Punch published it on 8 December 1915, unassumingly tucking it near the back of the magazine on page 468, with no author attribution.

(Digitized Punch magazine detail courtesy of The Internet Archive.)

“In Flanders Fields,” however, quickly became famous worldwide, reprinted again and again. University of Georgia professor Moina Michael, on a leave of absence to work as a YMCA volunteer overseas, was inspired by the poem and began wearing a red poppy as a symbol of remembrance. After the war, she sold silk poppies to raise money for disabled veterans, and her campaign helped the red poppy become an international symbol of war remembrance. Lt. Col. John McCrae died in France in 1918, but the red poppy remains a popular way to offer tribute to those who served on the war front and on the home front.

The image at left is a page from a 1921 limited edition featuring the verse, with illustrations by Ernest Clegg. John McCrae made one small change to the text soon after he wrote the poem. Can you find here it? Both variations of the verse are popular today.

Poppies were incorporated into American war posters, like the one below, by the end of the war.

Left: Ernest Clegg, from In Flanders Fields (William Edwin Rudge private press, 1921); Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons. Right: Unknown artist, He fought to a FINISH poster, 1919; Courtesy of Library of Congress.

Remembrance Poppies Maker Activity

Materials Needed: • felt in red, green, and black • paper or cardstock for pattern • straight pins • scissors • yellow button • pin back with safety pin clasp • needle and thread or hot glue gun

Step 1: Create patterns of the 3-petal shape and the leaf shape on paper or cardstock.

Step 2: Pin the 3-petal pattern to red felt and the leaf pattern to green felt; cut 2 shapes in red, and 1 in green for each poppy.

Step 3: Cut very small strips of black felt to serve as the flower’s stamens. (Alternately, cut a small black felt circle with slits along the outer edge to attach in the center of one red piece, or stitch straight lines radiating from the center using black embroidery floss.)

Step 4: With needle and thread, stitch the black felt strips, crisscrossing, in the center of one red piece and sew the yellow button to the center.

Step 5: Connect the other red piece to the first with a stitch or two, aligning the petals in an offset way. Sew the leaf to the back, so that a portion is visible from the front.

Step 6: Sew the pin back to the center of the flower’s back, to create a wearable pin.

Wear the remembrance poppy to honor those who served in the war.

Note: Parts can be assembled using a hot glue gun, in lieu of sewing.