![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.raisingjane.org\/journal\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/11\/okeeffe_red_poppy+xx-360x282.jpg\" "\\"okeeffe_red_poppy+xx\\"")
<\/p>\n\t\t\t\tToday is Veterans Day\u00a0in the United States\u2014a day reserved for celebrating and honoring our\u00a0soldiers. Across the world, it is also celebrated as Remembrance Day, honoring those passed.<\/p>\n
The symbol for remembrance and honor is\u00a0universal.\u00a0 I have proudly worn the Remembrance Poppy on my lapel and know what it stands for, but haven\u2019t known what it stems from.<\/p>\n
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Poppy painting by Georgia O’Keeffe<\/p>\n
The flower itself is gorgeous, and in 1918, Moina Michael wore a silk version of the poppy pinned to her coat at the Overseas War Secretaries\u2019 Conference. Inspired by the World War I poem, \u201cIn Flanders Fields\u201d by John MaCrae, she distributed 25 of them that day.<\/p>\n
In Flanders fields the poppies blow
\nBetween the crosses, row on row,
\nThat mark our place; and in the sky
\nThe larks, still bravely singing, fly
\nScarce heard amid the guns below.<\/p>\n
We are the Dead. Short days ago
\nWe lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
\nLoved and were loved, and now we lie
\nIn Flanders fields.<\/p>\n
Take up our quarrel with the foe:
\nTo you from failing hands we throw
\nThe torch; be yours to hold it high.
\nIf ye break faith with us who die
\nWe shall not sleep, though poppies grow
\nIn Flanders fields.<\/p>\n
In 1920, Moina Michael campaigned to have the poppy adopted as the American national symbol of remembrance. The style of the Remembrance Poppy varies with each country that honors it. Canadian Remembrance Poppies are two pieces of molded plastic, while the United Kingdom\u2019s are paper, and in England and Northern Ireland, the poppy has two red petals with a green leaf. The U.S. Remembrance Poppy is made of crepe paper, and we often wear ours on Memorial Day as well.\t\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Today is Veterans Day\u00a0in the United States\u2014a day reserved for celebrating and honoring our\u00a0soldiers. Across the world, it is also celebrated as Remembrance Day, honoring those passed. The symbol for remembrance and honor is\u00a0universal.\u00a0 I have proudly worn the Remembrance … Continue reading