How to keep your Remembrance Day poppy in place

This Remembrance Day, employees at Canadian McDonald’s restaurants will be allowed to sport poppies behind the counter thanks to a small, but novel addition to the symbolic pin. (Lars Hagberg / THE CANADIAN PRESS)

Poppies are important to wear but easy to lose this time of year, thanks to the single, slippery pin that most people use to keep them in place.

But there are better ways to keep a poppy on, as some Canadians have discovered.

Push it through the petal

The long, thin pin that holds the poppy together can easily slip out of clothing – but not the poppy itself.

Some people make the pin a little more secure by sticking the end through their lapel, then pushing the tip through the red petal of the poppy. The tightly-woven felt has a better hold than your shirt or jacket.

Weave it

Don’t just press that pin through once – thread it through your lapel as much as possible. The extra threading adds friction to the pin and gives it a better chance of staying on.

Buy extras

Some people would rather buy extra poppies than worry about securing the first one they pick up. And since the donations for every poppy go to charity, why not drop a few more quarters on backups?

Cap it

Stick a piece of tape or a chunk of cork on the end of the poppy pin to keep it from sliding off. The poppy will move, but it shouldn’t slip away with a stopper on the end of it.

An old earring cap can also do the trick.

Safety pin

Ditch that troublesome pin for something that locks in place, like a safety pin. Weave it through the base of the poppy once, then clip it on your shirt or coat. It means losing the silver middle of the poppy, but it’s also a safe bet to keep the flower in place.

Mini-flag pin

This one is a variation on the safety pin trick, but with a Canadian twist. Replace the poppy pin with a tiny Canadian flag pin (the kind you find at the dollar store). In place of the tiny silver dot on most poppies, you’ll have a Canadian flag at the centre of the flower.

The little Canada pin comes with a gold clip at the back to keep it in place, so there’s no way you’ll lose that poppy.