The Royal Canadian Legion has traditionally started their Poppy Campaign on the last Friday of October (aka today!). However, I missed the memo that this year begins a newly extended Remembrance Poppy ‘season’, offering all Canadians the opportunity to purchase and wear a poppy from October 24th until Remembrance Day on November 11th.
The wearing of a poppy was inspired by Canadian John McCrae’s wartime poem “In Flanders Field” and has been used as a symbol of Remembrance and respect for those who were lost or hurt during battle, ever since 1921. In our minds, the Legion and poppies have always been connected but the wearing of a poppy predates the birth of the Canadian Legion by 5 years.
The Legion began with a steadfast mission to support those who returned from war physically and/or emotionally broken or scarred, and to offer a way and a place to remember those who did not return from battle at all. As early as 1915, those needs were becoming plentiful and even though stand-alone veterans’ organizations had sprung up across the country to fulfill these sorts of requirements, the individual groups didn’t get together until 1925 to discuss building a strong nationwide association to assist all veterans, and also to advocate for returning forces’ rights when change or action was crucial. This incorporation was formalized through an Act of Parliament in July 1926 and the Canadian Legion of the British Empire Service League (to be renamed in 1961 as The Royal Canadian Legion) was established.
They took on the making and selling of poppies from that point and, until 1996, wounded or disabled veterans actually made the poppies that were sold. These days our Remembrance Poppies continue to be made in Canada, though not by veterans. I’m sure the sheer numbers that were required, got to be a bit staggering.
The mandate of the Royal Canadian Legion has always been to offer a special quality of care to those who have seen military service by providing meeting spaces in communities for returning soldiers and officers, to advocate for the best route forward for those who have returned, to guide those persons who are bewildered by, or not yet informed about, the help that is available as they try to make the overwhelming transition back into a civilian way of life, and to offer financial help whenever they can.
These days, the Legion is probably best known by its 1,350 Legion Halls throughout Canada, offering not only military personnel a comforting relaxed community pub of their own, but extending that hospitality to the average civilian as well. Look into any of these Legion Halls and you’ll find their event calendars full of bingo or poker or karaoke nights. There’s usually a pool table or two and a couple of dart boards on the wall. They often have live music, trivia nights, line-dancing, and nights when the big screens are all tuned for the football or hockey game. These establishments reflect their communities but are designed to make those for whom they were originally intended, feel like they belong and are welcome no matter where they are from.
The money raised throughout each year’s Poppy Campaign and through Legion memberships (also available to those who have never served), is held in trust to be used very specifically for local veterans of our armed forces and RCMP, or their families, who require support or are in financial need.
Through donations collected, the Legion is able to furnish returned service men and women with financial grants for food, emergency accommodations, clothing, medical devices that might be required, or accessibility renovations needed to address mobility issues. The Legion uses the money to help with re-training, extends bursaries for education to veterans and their children, and it provides what support it can to local cadet units.
In the words of the Legion, as explained in their strict user guide of all things Poppy, “…funds collected during the annual Poppy Campaign do not belong to the Legion, but the Legion is responsible for these funds. The funds have been contributed by the Canadian public to honour the memory of those who paid the supreme sacrifice as a means to assist with the Tradition of Remembrance and to permit the Legion to assist persons and activities that have been defined as being eligible to receive these funds. The funds are Public Funds and the Legion, at all levels, is charged with the trust of overseeing disbursements in an appropriate and transparent manner.” – The Poppy Manual, pg 35
Interestingly, the Remembrance Poppy image is a registered trademark of the Legion and can only be used by permission and in specific ways that do not dishonour or misrepresent those who serve or have served. It cannot be monetized for commercial use or used for political gain and the image can never be walked on or eaten. This explains the lack of themed cupcakes.
Since many of us don’t have a first-person connection with those who serve/have served our country during conflict, we give our change (or hopefully bills) (and now available tap screens and donation apps) to the volunteer, usually in uniform, who is selling the poppies outside of the grocery store or the drugstore or the mall.
The Royal Canadian Legion also has their own on-line Poppy Store which sells a variety of things including black button pins with butterfly backs, to secure the centres of the poppies we buy each year, seriously curtailing the injuries suffered from trying to keep a poppy on a straight pin in place for the entire 18 days of the campaign. I bought 10. (Free shipping in Canada via Canada Post!)
No matter how you look at it, our individual civilian contribution to the support, encouragement, and Remembrance of those who have ensured and safeguarded our Canadian rights and freedoms, is small. However, we can join with millions of others during the Poppy Campaign by donating money or time, or proudly (but safely) wearing a poppy on our lapels to show our support, and in two weeks, we can stand and bow our heads in respect of the toll that safeguarding has taken on our troops and their families.
If it is truly all we can do, then let’s at least do THAT.
