🇫🇷 Pourquoi les Britanniques portent-ils un coquelicot?
Cet article explique pourquoi nous portons un coquelicot au Royaume-Uni le Jour de l’Armistice. II raconte comment le coquelicot a été choisi comme symbole d’hommage à tous les morts pendant la Première Guerre Mondiale. Vous apprendrez aussi comment le fait de porter un coquelicot chaque année aide les vétérans et les familles des soldats perdus à la guerre.
🇬🇧 Why do the British wear Poppies on Remembrance Day ?
Remembrance day is also known as ‘Poppy Day’ in the United Kingdom. The idea originated in the USA. It was the Poem ‘Flanders Field’, written in 1915 by Canadian poet John McCrae, that inspired American teacher Moina Michael to adopt the poppy as a symbol in memory of those who died at war.
A few years later Anna Guérin, a French woman planned to sell poppies in the UK to raise money to help the widows and orphans of soldiers. While in the UK she met Earl Haig, the founder of The Royal British Legion a charity set up to help veterans and their families. Anna persuaded to adopt the Poppy as an emblem for the Legion. Nine million poppies were sold that year on 11 November 1921 and they raised £106,000 to help veterans with housing and jobs. Today, the Poppy appeal has 40,000 volunteers who make and sell 40 million poppies.
In the UK we wear a Poppy to show our respects to the British service men and women who sacrificed their lives for our conflicts. Each person you see wearing a poppy has made a contribution to helping veterans and their families.