It’s ANZAC Day and you’re possibly wearing a red poppy to commemorate Australian servicemen and women.
But did you know there’s a particular way to wear it?
According to Legacy – a charity that cares for the dependants of deceased Australian servicemen and women – the way you don your poppy is incredibly meaningful and symbolic.
If you have never fought for the country, the poppy should be worn on your right side, while servicemen and women wear their medals on their left side, just above their heart.
If you’re wearing someone else’s medals they should also be worn on your right side.
We wear poppies on ANZAC Day as they were among the first to flower in the battlefields of northern France and Belgium after World War I. The soldiers believed the blood of their comrades soaking the ground created the vivid red of the flower.
So the red of the poppy represents the blood of all those who gave their lives, the black represents the mourning of those whose loved ones didn't return home, and the green leaf represents regrowth and future prosperity after the war destroyed so much.
Traditionally the leaf (which isn't always present on the poppies in Australia) would be positioned at 11 o'clock to represent the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month - which was the time that World War I formally ended.
Lest we forget.
Top Comments
The tradition of wearing a Poppy is on Remembrance Day, not ANZAC Day. A sprig of rosemary (for remembrance) is more correct.
We grew up learning that rosemary is for Remembrance Day.
Poppies for Remembrance Day is an international thing; Anzac Day is in Aust (& NZ), & I think the rosemary is for that?
Which is strange, because Remembrance Day Ceremonies are held in the UK and Canada, where only a poppy is worn.
Poppies are worn as they were seen growing on the fields in Flanders and so are worn for Remembrance Day. Sometimes rosemary is also worm to signify remembrance on this day. Rosemary has been more traditionally worn in ANZAC day as it signifies remembrance but also grows wild at Gallipoli.