Your views on the Red Poppie versus the White Poppie(peace poppie)?

Question

I just heard a report that the Royal Canadian Legion wants to sue a store in Edmonton for selling Peace Poppies ( not selling asking simple donation just like the legion). Personally I would rather wear something that symbolizes peace rather than sporting a symbol of war.

Please let me clarify. I am not against the Red poppy and i greatly respect our men and woman fighting a war that is not theirs. And I am very proud of my family members that fought the I and II world wars.

Answer 1

Yes Kit i totally agree with you. In fact i'm wearing a white one right now. Why? Not as an insult to servicemen/women but simply because after two world wars, many more wars ever since, not forgetting those going on right now ... There are no true victors but more losers, as in widows, orphans and you name it. So i choose to wear a white poppy to say that indeed i do remember those who died in previous wars if i do not want to see anymore die again simply because someone decides they want to go to war.

Answer 2

Well this controversy is new to me, just heard about it. My very first reaction was the Legion is po'd because they are not getting the proceeds and that was before I read the article, I had only seen the headline. Sure enough the official response includes a blurb about copyright infringement. How the heck could anybody oppose a peace poppy is beyond me. Didn't they actually fight for our freedom(s), in other words free to hold a different point of view towards war. I for one am eternally gratefull towards the soldiers and thier families that sacrificed in ww1 and/or ww2 but the current situation in Iraq and Afganistan is a joke, maybe we should sell bush poppies and give the legion a cut to quell any opposition. Red shirts on Friday's c'mon, I disagree with the freakin war/s, get over it. I can't support our troops and I have more respect for soldiers that go awol. The timing however is another matter, to me it's a faux pas to have a campain during a time of remberence, that I find a little disrespectful, seems though that is a bit of an after thought with the legion, or at least they are not saying great we believe in peace as well and i'm sure we could co-exist just be more mindfull of the timing, that's where/why they loose me (and my donation). Where can I get a white peace poppy.

Answer 3

The Red Poppy is protected by law in the first place and I think it is outrageous that the so-called white poppy people are stomping on a tried and true Canadian TRADITION. I hope the Royal Canadian Legion is successful in suing all and any establishment that tries to sell or give away for donations any other type of Poppy...
NO ONE is putting down peace...by all means it would be great if the world were a peaceful place...however the tradition of wearing the Poppy is to HONOUR those soldiers/deceased or not who have fought for our freedom...to bring peace to the world. I think these white peace poppy people are just trying to "cash" in and should be ashamed of themselves.
LONG LIVE THE RED POPPY AND THE CANADIAN TRADITION!

Answer 4

LEST WE FORGET. It seems like every social cause is represente by a special coloured ribbon.There are so many in fact I almost overlook them.However the Red poppy has been traditionally a symbol of veterans just as the poem "In Flanders Fields" is associated with Remembrance Day. Freedom and peace do not come without a price. The Red Poppy is a symbol for those who paid the ultimate price for freedom.The Red poppy is also a symbol who faught for freedom.It would be wonderful if peace and freedom could be won through diplomacy however that is not typically the reality/ I will not be wearing a white poppy, not because I don't support peace but I will be wearing the Red Poppy.I know the Legion uses the donations from poppy sales for many positive community works. What will merchants be using the "donated " money for and to whom are they representing and accountable to?If you are an advocate for peace and freedom then excercise your right to vote. Keep democracy working.

Answer 5

WOWSERS...what a can of worms Edmonton started eh?....I think, Edmonton, should have asked the Legion members its opinion before it made the *PEACE* Poppy.

I do find it to be disrespectful, because some people are probably wearing it instead of the *RED* Poppy.

***TO ME***
The RED poppy is to symbolize the RED POPPIES growing in Flanders Field, which grow over the fallen soldiers graves. THE same very soldiers who gave up their lives to fight for OUR freedom.

I proudly wear the red poppy, and would rather NOT see the white poppy. They can sure as chit make another symbol to represent PEACE then to copy the Poppy. Why not a WHITE RIBBON...OH YEAH we already havea WHITE RIBBON campain for childabuse.

The should NOT MAKE THE WHITE POPPY. it really takes away from the RED, and look at the FIGHTING it HAS CAUSED. Hmmm.. Peace??? or PISSER OFFER?

Answer 6

It's an interesting debate, although it's almost internet-message-board worthy in that one side just doesn't get the point, and the other side is doing a horrible job at getting its point across.

I think that the white poppy people should stop selling the poppies.

so the white poppy people want to wear white poppies representing peace? I frankly think that this argument is splitting hairs where none need to be split. everyone i know, wears the red poppy on remembrance day to remember the horror of war. Yes, we celebrate the brave canadian troops who survived, and we honour their courage. but the day is called REMEMBRANCE day, because we remember the people who could not come back, and died horribly far away from home. What could be a better message for peace than soberly recollecting and reminding ourselves of the true horrors and the fundamental injustice of war?

Frankly, i think that the whole "white poppy" thing is just an ignorant and misconceived attempt to claim an issue on behalf of the peace movement. but. that's not why i think that they should stop.

When the legion distributes poppies, it does so as a fundraiser to help support our veterans. Remembrance day is an important national holiday, and almost everyone buys a poppy. It would be easy for a company to start manufacturing and selling poppies for profit, and they could probably make a killing at it, since everyone buys them every year. The only thing that keeps the legion's poppy drive viable as a fundraiser is the fact that they've got it trademarked. If people other than the legion can start distributing poppies, then the legion won't be able to support the veterans anymore.

so while people who like to argue might try to polarize the debate in terms of "pro war" or "pro peace": in terms of REAL consequences the distribution of these white poppies is a real threat to the quality of life of our old veterans. and frankly, that's just not classy at all.

Answer 7

For the record, the Legion has filed papers against the group distributing these poppies, as they have had the right to distribute poppies for Rememberance Day since 1921, and have held the copyright since 1949. This isn't just a war/peace ideological issue, but a legal one. This group is taking away funds from the Legion and should be stopped. That being said, the red poppy represents the soldiers and there sacrifices and I think wearing the white poppy is inappropriate, especially on Rememberance Day, if they want to distribute there own silly little political symbols against war, they should get there own day and not horn in on the veterans and honoured dead who deserve our commemeration and respect.

Answer 8

I think the peace activists can find another symbol. Riding on the back of the red poppy is sleazy. Its an offhanded insult.
I've never seen a peace activist who actually had the courage to do anything other than complain what better people are doing.
You can talk about peace all day, but in the end, someone has to draw a line in the sand and then defend it.
The white poppies are a disgusting slur.

Answer 9

I cannot believe that a Canadian store is selling white poppies. To me that is just disgraceful. I am not against a symbol of peace, but what about the world wide symbol which is a white dove??? {Or am I mistaken on this?}

Why change it now and put the whole symbolics of the poppy on the burner??

I think that the people that have defended our country and continue to defend it DESERVE the poppy, because without them this discussion would NEVER have been able to take place at all.

Answer 10

Well Kiti4u where does one start when answering a question like this. I guess first I would have to ask your age and probably guestimate that you are probably young(although that should not ever be an excuse for ignorance ), and have no clue about what the red poppy really symbolizes. You see back when I was in school & it would have been from gr 1 on (grade 1 being in 1967),we learned about our country and what it truly meant to die for your country and for the freedom that our children and grandchildren one day would have. The poppy symbolizes the soldiers who died in the wars, OUR WARS that were fought to protect our freedom. Yes even back then there were bad guys(like the germans,like Hitler, who slaughtered millions of innocent people)who really wanted to take away our freedom and have everyone be ruled by them. Thats pretty simplified.Today we have Bin Laudens and Sadaams etc who want to be the guys who rule everything and who kill ,yes gasp EVEN CANADIANS AND AMERICANS. How can you say its not our war?????They killed us on our own soil. What part of that dont you get??? It IS our war and some patriotic americans and canadians still believe in FREEDOM. And they will fight to the death to defend that FREEDOM and belief.
What you and the people who have started the white poppy thing need to do is look up the rememberence day poppy and read up on John Mccrea the guy who wrote the poem In Flanders Fields & see what he's all about.When were were in gr 1 & on we had to memorize this poem and recite it as a whole school in our assemblies we had to attend in our best clothes. We also paid our respects to all the soldiers who fought & died for our country by being QUIET for 1 whole minute. The people who sell these white poppies should for 1 minute observe the silence & remember those who fought & died to allow them the freedom to sell white poppies & not be shot for being a communist.Personally I would rather read up on the facts of the red poppy, than just follow the statis quo that try to sell the white poppie crap as something they truly believe in ,when they have no idea what the hell they believe in.How could they when they dont even know the history of the RED POPPY.
Please feel free to visit this website http://www.greatwar.nl/frames/default-poppies.html to find out about your heritage called FREEDOM.

Dissing the poppy is like the guy who pissed on the war memorial its just plain wrong.

Answer 11

I don't think that the Red Poppie stands for war, I think it stands for the veterans and for all the individuals who were in the war fighting for Peace. If the individuals who want a symbol for Peace, why don't they get something like the dove (which already stands for Peace) and have those available. They could sell them at any time during the year not just for Remembrance Day. Is there a white poppie? The ones that are in my mothers garden are red.