I'm from the USA, and have only discovered GN in the last two months. Lots of re-runs on BBC-America. Question: in early 2010, Graham and his guests all wore lapel decorations that looked vaguely like poppies. Can anyone in-the-know tell me what these flowers are and what they represent? Any info appreciated!!!
sharehi, are your sure they weren't poppies?, i can't think of any other type of flower worn like that?
shareThey certainly look like poppies. However, I'm not familiar with English customs or traditions, so I'm wondering why they were wearing them at that specific time of year.
sharei'm pretty sure they were poppies, if the show was shot in novemeber it would have been for what you call veterans day.
there was a time in 2010 when a lot of soldiers were losing their lives and even though there was no official rememberance many people on tv chose to wear them.
but my guess is it would have been rememberance day.
Thank you! That makes perfect sense. Our Memorial Day is in late May; same holiday for the same reason, just a different time of the year.
shareJennie,
Our Memorial Day, the last Monday in May, is the day we have set aside for giving tribute to our Service members who have died in combat. November 11th, the day WWI combat ended, is the day we celebrate all members of our Armed Forces who have served, as Veteran's Day. Memorial Day preceded Veteran's Day, as it was originally for the soldiers of the U.S. Civil War.
Fight the FOCA
If the show was recorded between about the last week in October and 11th November then they certainly were poppies, as it 's virtually impossible to appear on British tv then without wearing them! They're sold by the Royal British Legion to raise money for ex-servicemen and their families, prior to Remembrance Day on the anniversary of the 1918 Armistice on 11th November - it's a big thing over here, and I think they do it in Canada too (poppies were about the only thing that would grow on the First World War battlefields after they'd been shelled for years, and the red's symbolic of all the blood shed too). I don't think Australia and New Zealand do it so much as their main commemoration is ANZAC Day in late April.
shareI am Australian, and we definitely do the poppies in November, as well as legacy pins, specifically the 11th like everyone else. ANZAC (Australia and New Zealand Army Corps) day is 25th April which commemorates the landing of ANZAC troops in Gallipoli in WWI.
nope
What a sad, sheltered live you Americans live to not know about a tradition amongst the Commonwealth countries.
shareNeither a sad nor a sheltered life. Our American History texts of the 1970s simply covered American history. Nothing about British traditions & memorials. I posted the question hoping to learn. Mission accomplished. ?
share