Red and White poppy

The reasons for wearing a red poppy for remembrance are reasonably well known - but the white poppy is much, much less common.

The later are for peace without violence - it came about in 1926, just a few years after the red poppy came to be used in Britain. A member of the No More War Movement suggested that the British Legion should be asked to imprint 'No More War' in the centre of the red poppies and failing this pacifists should make their own flowers. In 1933 the Co-operative Women's Guild produced the first white poppies to be worn on Armistice Day (later called Remembrance Day). The Guild stressed that the white poppy was not intended as an insult to those who died in the First World War - a war in which many of the women lost husbands, brothers, sons and lovers.

The White Poppy symbolises the belief that there are better ways to resolve conflicts than killing strangers. From economic reliance on arm sales (Britain is the world second largest arms exporter) to maintaining manifestly useless nuclear weapons Britain contributes significantly to international instability. The outcome of the recent military adventures highlights their ineffectiveness in today's complex world.

Now 85 years after the end of the ‘war to end all war’ we still have a long way to go to put an end to a social institution which in the last decade alone killed over 10 million children. I choose to wear both red and white poppies - although I accept there are some difficulties with red poppies for some people - in Northern Ireland, for example, it became regarded as a Protestant Loyalist symbol because of its connection with British patriotism. And a growing number of people have been concerned about the poppy's association with military power and the justification of war.

I, and I suspect most people, do not see the red poppy as a justification for war but I do think we need care and to be alert - I hope that by wearing both red and white poppies that makes it quite clear what I think!

Read more about red and white poppies here.