What Is Remembrance Day?

Every year, at the end of October and the beginning of November you may notice people on the streets and on TV wearing a poppy. Have you ever wondered what they are for?

These bright red paper poppies are to remember all the people who have died in wars since the First World War.

Photo: Courtesy of The Royal British Legion

Nowadays there are only a very few men still alive who fought in the First World War, which raged from 1914-18. Millions of people were killed in this war and millions more were injured.

To some people the fields of poppies that grew on the fields in northern France and Belgium where the some of the worst fighting happened looked like fields of blood. They reminded them of the soldiers that had died there.

These poppies are growing wild at Gallipoli, where there was an awful battle in 1915.

Photo: Courtesy of The Royal British Legion

A famous poem by John McCrea was written about this in 1915. This is its first line:

'In Flanders fields the poppies blow, between the crosses, row on row.'

(Flanders is an area in northern Belgium that saw some of the heaviest fighting of the war).

Click here to read the full poem

People started selling poppies to raise money for injured and old soldiers and the families of those killed and the first official appeal was organised in 1921 by an organisation called the Royal British Legion.

As well as selling poppies, every year there are many services and events to honour those that have died during war.

Photo © Jon Pratty

The peace treaty - or armistice - to mark the end of World War One was signed at 11am on November 11 1918. Every year since then, at the same time on the same day, a two minute silence is held to remember the war dead. This is called Armistice Day.

Nowadays people remember those that have died in the First and Second World Wars and other more recent conflicts such as the Falklands, Northern Ireland, Iraq and Kosovo.

Events are also held all across the country on the second Sunday of November, known as Remembrance Sunday. The Queen and other members of the Royal Family and politicians gather at a monument called the Cenotaph near the Houses of Parliament for a special service, where they also hold a two-minute silence.

You can find out more about the history of war, and remembrance, at these museums:

National Army Museum, London
Imperial War Museum, London
Imperial War Museum Duxford, Cambridge
Imperial War Museum North, Manchester
National War Museum of Scotland, Edinburgh