Every Memorial Day — which is Monday, May 25, this year — bright red poppies seem to pop up everywhere. They’re pinned to jackets, tucked into wreaths, and even mentioned in Memorial Day quotes. Unless you’ve gone down a historical rabbit hole at some point, you might not actually know why they’re associated with the holiday. The poppy as a symbol of war casualties started with the poem “In Flanders Fields”, which was written from the perspective of fallen soldiers buried among poppies in Belgium. It urges the living to honor the sacrifices of the fallen soldiers by continuing the fight against the enemy, immortalizing the poppy as a symbol of remembrance. Memorial Day poppies can’t be bought. The Friday before Memorial Day (May 24 this year) is National Poppy Day. During this time, poppies are handmade by veterans as part of their rehabilitation and distributed across the country by the American Legion Auxiliary in exchange for donations that assist disabled and hospitalized veterans.
