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What proponents of the Poppy don't seem to get is that when wearing the flower is compulsory, the gesture becomes meaningless. I simply don't believe that every presenter on the BBC would choose to wear a poppy at exactly the same time if they weren't pressured to do so.
Isn't it ironic that there are now echoes of totalitarian conformity about what should be a personal decision to remember a brave fight against totalitarianism ?

- David Hawkins, London, 09/11/2010 10:42
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"White poppies are just the usual nonsense from the PC brigade who feel they have to make capital out of absolutely anything they can."

Too right Paul! How dare those lefties of the Women's Co-operative Guild come up with modern day PC nonsense in 1933! They just did it to spit on the graves of those who died in the war - brave men like their own husbands and sons, in whose memory they instituted the White Poppy.

I do love how there are those who claim that the White Poppy is somehow new, somehow lefty, somehow just "PC gone mad" when it was instituted by the widows and bereaved parents of servicemen, supported by former servicemen, and nearly as old as the Red Poppy.

Af, the only "agenda" that those who wear white poppies have is that never again should we need to wear red poppies. You on the other hand sound as if you wish to see the tradition continue for centuries - happy to see thousands die are we? No, of course you aren't. Your support in wearing a red poppy does not mean you want war to continue, nor does it mean you are happy to see our soldiers die, to see families bereaved.

Similarly, do those of us who wear the white poppy (indeed who wear both) the courtesy of not presuming we are against those who wear the uniform. We'd rather not see them killed either - it's the reason we wear the white poppy, in the hope that never again will such sacrifices have to be made.

- Paul, London, 03/11/2009 16:37
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with you on that one Mick, we should all make efforts to show that we the citizens of the world are against ALL forms of international conflict, as the great soul song says..WAR what is it good for, Absolutely nothing! (except gaining control of another nations wealth and deep buried treasures of Gold, Gems, Oil.........
wear a white poppy knowing its shows you are with the movement towards a peaceful future for us all, it would of been fantastic if the fire service had just continued on with the campaign, it would of brought them much Kudos...

- Lee, Brighton, UK, 27/10/2009 13:43
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As a church minister, and a former Army Chaplain, I find Remembrance Day a difficult and emotional time. I have to be professional as I conduct services, but also have my own personal memories of soliders and friends lost in Iraq and Afghanistan.
I wear the Red Poppy to Remember the sacrifice of all who died past and present, and I fervently hope for a future where such sacrifice will no longer be necessary. For me the Red Poppy is already a symbol of hope for the future, (it was after all found growing in the devastated battlefields of Flanders, and was chosen for that reason....)
I am also anti-war, I have seen its consequences first hand, and believe that peace is the only answer. I am offended that those who wear the white poppy should think that their sentiments are any different from mine, or indeed anyone else who wears Red.
From my point of view the White Poppy can only be worn by those who do not understand the true meaning of Remembrance Day. The Liturgy of a Remembrance Service includes a commitment to those who are living today to work for a better future; it does not glorify the past, nor is it stuck in the past.
Yet the past is important, ....as a statement above the door of the former Dachau Concentration Camp in Germany reads "Those who do not learn from the past, are condemned to repeat its mistakes."
Lets not turn Remembrance Day into a time for making trite political statements.... wear Red, as a symbol of Remembrance AND Peace.

- Revd Philip Patterson, Perth, Scotland, 13/11/2008 16:13
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I'm an expatriate Brit and I will be wearing both the white and the red poppy this November. I believe that acknowledging those who died in wars past and a fervent hope that peace may reign in the future are not mutually exclusive.

- Johanna, San Francisco, CA, 20/10/2008 05:31
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I've just been reminded of the white poppy and the controversy it appears to attract. It seems to me that the implication against both is implied rather than asserted. I am sure wearers of the red poppy are not pro-war and wearers of the white poppy are not indicating any disrespect for those who died, yet these seem to be assumptions people are making.

I believe that the difference is merely an emphasis on the past or the future. Either way the objective is the same; to be mindful of mortal conflict and it's ultimate cost.

There should not be any conflict between people who display one symbol or the other because they abhor the effects of war. By engaging in such arguments, a wearer of either becomes a hypocrite.

- Bob, High Wycombe, 07/01/2008 18:01
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I'm BA student studying Peace and it seems odd to me that anyone would not support the wearing of a white poppy. It's not about political correctness, it's not about us and them, it's about all of us. Monks being killed in Burma for protesting peacefully, inocent citizens of Iraq and Afganistan being killed for simply being in the wrong place at the wrong time. As an individual most things we do are a mere insignificance but it's all those mere insignificances that make a difference. Wear the red poppy and remember those who lost there lives stopping what could possibly have been the biggest disaster of the 20th Century. And wear the white poppy to help stop such a conflict from ever happening again.
Violence can create peace but peace will never create violence.

- Nick Renn, Hackney, London, 14/11/2007 23:52
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I think it's disgusting to wear a white poppy and I'm glad I havent seen anyone doing so. This morning in London I was pleased to see so many RED poppies being worn. It's shameful the white poppy brigade use this day of remembrance to ride roughshot over this tradition for their agenda. Its nothing to do with being anti war and everything to do with thumbing your noses at those who died for our and others freedom. They must not be allowed to detract from the real Poppy Appeal. Wearing both does not make you an exception to that cynical drive to undermine the real appeal and detract from it.

- Af, London, 08/11/2007 12:41
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I agree with the wearing of white poppies, in fact I am wearing one now... but I am wearing a red one too. I always wear both - the red is to commemorate the dead of two World Wars, the white to indicate a commitment to peace. I find it insulting of one reader to refer to it as 'the usual nonsense from the PC brigade', and I think the person who sent this mailing should apologise. I also take exception to the claim that the proponents of the White Poppy campaign are 'trying to denigrate the contribution our Armed Forces make' - this is a complete misrepresentation of the White Poppy campaign. BOTH poppies commemorate the dead of two World Wars, and I would never wear one without the other.

- Jane Ennis, London, UK, 08/11/2007 12:04
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I used to support the aims of the White Poppy appeal but it seems to me now that their aims are misguided. It was Palmerston (I think) who said that while 'War' was a calamity and 'Peace' a magnificent thing, nevertheless there are more important issues than 'Peace' and worse things than 'War' - living in a society of justice and freedom, and not living a life of enslavement and tyranny, are worth fighting for.

- Craig Menzies, London, 07/11/2007 14:04
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Well, Mick, the Red Poppy is far from pro-war. It is a commemoration of those who gave their lives in defence of freedom and the country, and I don't for one moment suspect that even one of them thought 'Oh great, a war! let's go and get killed'. The fact is that poppies are red, and they do grow in profusion in the Flanders area where so many were killed in WW1. White poppies are just the usual nonsense from the PC brigade who feel they have to make capital out of absolutely anything they can.

- Paul, London, 07/11/2007 13:47
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'A blunder by the design team'. Come off it, someone senior must have approved the final proof of the invitation. If not, it was sloppy staff work by commanders, not 'design teams'. We are all aware of what proponents of the white poppy campaign are trying to do: denigrate the fundamental contribution our Armed Forces make, and our veterans have made, to the stability and safeguarding of our society. Anything that detracts from the Royal British Legion's poppy campaign in support of those in need is shameful.

- Peter Haldane, London, 07/11/2007 13:18
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What is wrong with being against war?

- Mick, London, England, 07/11/2007 12:59
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