When should you start wearing a poppy? How long appeal last and which side to wear poppies
Every year, millions of people around the UK wear a poppy in the build-up to Remembrance Day.
The flower has become one of the nation’s most recognisable symbols, and plays a central role in the annual commemorations of the First World War Armistice.
The Royal British Legion, a charity established to provide support for members and veterans of the British Armed Forces and their families, organises the Poppy Appeal every year.
Here’s everything the charity has to say about wearing your poppy, from when you should start to if there’s a correct side.
When should I start wearing a poppy?
The 2023 Poppy Appeal began on 22 October, so this is the date many volunteers would have started selling them up and down the country.
However, there is no set date you are supposed to start – or stop – wearing the symbol.
The Royal British Legion says: “You can wear a poppy all year round but traditionally people stop wearing a poppy after Armistice Day on 11 November or Remembrance Sunday, whichever is later.”
Remembrance Sunday always falls on the second weekend of November, which means this year’s memorial takes place on Sunday 12 November.
This comes alongside the commemorations that take place every year on 11 November, the anniversary of the signing of the Armistice that marked the end of the First World War in 1918.
You can still buy paper poppies from the charity’s collectors, who you can find on high streets, in supermarkets and at transport hubs.
You can also purchase a poppy from the online Poppy Shop, which also stocks a host of poppy-themed products, from pins and badges to wreaths and even alcoholic drinks.
Which side should you wear a poppy?
Some people say a poppy should be worn on the left lapel, to keep it close to your heart – it is also the side that medals are worn by the Armed Forces.
Others argue that the symbol should be displayed on the left by men and the right by women, the traditional positions of a badge or brooch.
The positioning of the flower’s leaf has also prompted debate, with one theory dictating that it should be at 11 o’clock, representing the Armistice being signed at the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month.
However, the British Legion insists there is no right or wrong way, with its central mesage only to “wear one with pride”.
Why do we wear poppies?
The poppy’s origins as a symbol of remembrance lie in the First World War poem In Flanders Fields by Canadian officer John McCrae, first published in December 1915.
Its opening lines refer to how the flowers grew from the graves of soldiers across Western Europe during the conflict:
In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row
As the war ended, American poet Moina Michael used In Flanders Fields as the inspiration for her own work, We Shall Keep the Faith, and began wearing and distributing the red poppy as a symbol of remembrance.
The practice quickly spread to the UK, where the first ever Poppy Day was held on 11 November, 1921, the third anniversary of Armistice Day.
That’s when it was adopted as a symbol by the newly-formed Royal British Legion.
