The official name of Poppy day is Remembrance day, also known as Armistice day. This day commemorates the ending of the First Word War by the signing of the Armistice Treaty in a railway carriage in Compiègne Forest on the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month, 1918.
Why poppies and why red poppies?
Inspired from the poem by Major John McCrae, In Flanders Fields, a Canadian military doctor, in 1915.
After the battles were fought, poppies bloomed on these fields and the colour red relates to the blood that was shed.
Poppy day is a day of remembrance for both military and civilians who have paid the ultimate price in conflict.
Although mainly associated with World War One, this day of remembrance has become appicable to all killed in times of war.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Remembrance_Day for more detail and links
In Flanders Fields
In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.
We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.
Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.
Etymology,origin and meaning of the word "war" click here.
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