AS Remembrance Day approaches, complaints about those who choose to wear white poppies are already beginning.
So, what do they represent?
In the words of the Peace Pledge Union, which distributes white poppies, they represent three things:
- Remembrance for all victims of war
- A commitment to peace
- A challenge to attempts to glamorise or celebrate war
They are made in remembrance of all victims of war – both military and civilian. Red poppies are specifically in remembrance of the British armed forces and their allies.
Though that distinction is not the impression you would get from certain groups, as presented by Tory MP Johnny Mercer.
White poppies are attention seeking rubbish. Ignore the wearers of them. If you don’t want to wear a poppy don’t bother; they fought and died so you could choose. But don’t deliberately try and hijack it’s symbolism for your own ends. Well done @BrianWoodMC https://t.co/HRK3wW3qY5
— Johnny Mercer MP (@JohnnyMercerUK) 22 October 2018
White poppies are attention-seeking hijacking, according to Mercer. One Twitter user pointed out how wrong that was:
They were first worn in 1933 by the Women’s Co-operative Guild to symbolise a message of “no more war”. Do you think those women, whose lives were so devastated by WW1, were mere attention seekers? #whitepoppy
— Bernadette Meaden (@BernaMeaden) October 23, 2018
While you can order white poppies online, the Peace Pledge Union also sell them in several shops in Scotland.
- In Edinburgh, at the Peace and Justice Centre, and the New Leaf Co-operative
- In Glasgow, at Calton Books
- In Lochgilphead, at the Co-operative Supermarket on Oban Road
White isn't the only alternative colour available, either. Purple poppies remember animals killed in war, and black poppies African, Black, West Indian and Pacific Island soldiers who lost their lives.
Fair warning though – if you're spotted by any Tory MPs as you wear any of these, expect some vintage poppy-shaming.
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