Legacy and RemembrancePoppies

IN FLANDERS FIELDS

In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place: and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie,
In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch: be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.

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Inspired by McCrae’s poem, American Moina Michael began a campaign promoting the poppy as a symbol of remembrance. Her efforts led to the adoption of the poppy as a memorial symbol in the United States and in English-speaking countries overseas.

In recent years, awareness of the poppy’s significance has declined in the U.S., although it remains strong in Britain, Canada, Australia and New Zealand.  The U.S. World War I Centennial Commission has launched a national campaign to revive the poppy as a national symbol while raising funds for a new national memorial for America’s World War I generation in Washington, D.C.  Learn more!