Why do we wear a poppy on Remembrance Day?

Money raised from the sale of the poppies goes to help veterans.

Thousands of Maritimers will be heading to cenotaph ceremonies Tuesday, proudly honouring our fallen heroes by wearing a red poppy over their hearts.

But while many Canadians don a poppy each year, how many actually know the origins of the symbol, beyond John McCrae’s famous poem?

“Wearing the poppy, I think most Canadians understand the importance of it as a symbol of remembrance, but at the same time, many don't understand its history,” says retired Maj. Ken Hynes, curator of the Army Museum at the Halifax Citadel National Historic Site.

In 1918, the last year of the First World War, a middle-aged American schoolteacher by the name of Moina Michael read John McCrae'sfamous poem.

McCrae, a Canadian field surgeon, wrote “In Flanders Fields”while serving in Belgium in 1915.

Michael was so moved by the words, she decided to write her own poem in response:

‘We cherish too the poppy red

That grows on fields where valour led.

It seems to signal to the skies,

The blood of heroes never dies.

“(Michael) was so inspired by the wording of the poem that she thought using the poppy as a symbol of remembrance would be very appropriate,” says Hynes.

In 1920, she convinced the American Legion to recognize the poppy as its symbol of remembrance.

Her efforts were noticed by another woman, French widow Anne Guerin, whose country had lost an entire generation of men.

“Hundreds of thousands of young Frenchmen were killed during the First World War. Their casualty rate was extremely high, much higher than the Canadian casualty rate,” says Hynes.

Guerin started selling cloth copies of poppies as a fundraiser to help rebuild war-ravaged Europe. Then, she successfully took her crusade to Canada.

The Royal Canadian Legion adopted the poppy as its symbol of remembrance in 1921, along with Britain and Australia.

While wearing a poppy may have its roots in the United States and France, there is no question it was inspired by MacRae’s poem.

“John McCrae was the catalyst for the thinking about this,” says Hynes.

With files from CTV's Jayson Baxter