Poppy Scotland

Lerwick Town Hall and Anderson High School will this week be marking the centenary of the Poppy as a symbol of Remembrance. 

Ahead of Remembrance Sunday next weekend, Secondary Three pupils at Anderson High School have made 100 poppies which have been placed in school windows for this week. Pupils are currently studying ‘Scots on the Western Front’ as part of the history curriculum. 

Lerwick Town Hall will also be lit red on the evenings of Friday 12th and Saturday 13th November, joining other ‘Light Up Red’ events across the nation. 

The Poppy was adopted as a symbol of Remembrance in 1921, soon after the Royal British Legion was formed as a voice for the ex-service community.  

The poem ‘In Flander’s Fields’ by Lt Col John McCrae was written in 1915.  With its reference to poppies growing between the crosses of graves on the battlefields of World War One, it became a well-known and influential poem of the time.  

Frenchwoman Anna Guerin is credited with the idea of using poppies as an emblem to remember those who died in WW1, and to raise funds for war veterans and families of those lost.  Anna travelled and spoke throughout Britain and the Commonwealth in the years after WW1 and the Poppy was widely adopted, with the first Poppy Appeal taking place in Britain in November 1921. 

The annual Poppy Appeal, along with other fundraisers throughout the year, continues to raise funds to support the needs of military veterans and their families. 

Since 1922 Poppies have been made for the Royal British Legion by veterans at their Poppy Factory in Richmond, which makes around 36 million Poppies each year.  The Lady Haig Poppy Factory in Edinburgh also produces around two million remembrance Poppies annually.  In Scotland, Poppies have four petals and no leaf, whereas the version produced in Richmond has two petals and a leaf. 

Remembrance Sunday takes place on the second Sunday of November each year, nearest to Armistice Day on 11th November when the hostilities of World War One ended in 1918.  

Convener Malcolm Bell, said: “It’s a hundred years since the Poppy became established as an important symbol of Remembrance across the Commonwealth.  It’s as important as ever that we remember the sacrifice made by those lost in conflict and those still affected by war and trauma today.  This year is a particularly important milestone and I am pleased Lerwick Town Hall will be taking part in the ‘Light Up Red’ event.” 

Source: https://www.shetland.gov.uk/news/article/2263/lerwick-town-hall-and-ahs-to-mark-poppy-100-