ALEXANDER QUON 

Honouring those who have given their lives in service for our country seems like it would be an easy task. Yet wearing the simple symbol of a red poppy seems more controversial and more divisive than ever before.

This year marks the 94th anniversary of Remembrance Day, a day that King George V dedicated to the remembrance of all commonwealth soldiers who had lost their lives fighting in the First World War. We commemorate this day by wearing a simple symbol of black and red: the poppy.

This flower was chosen because it grew in one of the worst battlefields in WWI: the area of Flanders in Northern Belgium. John McCrae wrote the poem “In Flander’s Fields,” in response to the battlefield, and since then the red poppy has been the symbol of Remembrance Day.

However according to media reports a small group of Ottawa University students — working with the Rideau Institute — have sought to change this solemn and traditional practice.

Instead of wearing the traditional red poppy, they are encouraging others to wear a white poppy emblazoned with the statement “I Remember for Peace.” According to Celyn Duffy one of the movements supporters, this is because “young people don’t want to celebrate war, we want to work for peace.”

This statement ignores what the poppy symbolizes and what Remembrance Day stands for.

The ceremony that we hold on Nov. 11 is in no way a celebration. People in our country, our provinces and our cities do not gather together in remembrance to encourage war.

If you go to any Remembrance Day ceremony in Canada you will not see anyone with joyous smiles celebrating the lives that we have lost and the wars we have fought. You will not see any flag waving or rounds of applause after the sounding of the Last Post and the few minutes of silence held on the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month.

One should realize that Remembrance Day is not a day that we celebrate in order to encourage war. Remembrance Day is just that, a day to remember. It is a day devoid of political motivation and has a single goal of uniting Canadians in honoring those who have given their lives in service to this country. To state anything less is an insult both to our country’s history and to those currently serving or have previously served in our military.

If you choose to wear the white poppy, that is your right as a citizen of this country. No one can stop you. Go out there and wear it if you want, especially if it is a cause that you support. However, please don’t wear a white poppy on the weeks leading up to Remembrance Day.

The truth of the matter is that individuals choosing to wear a white poppy on Remembrance Day instead of the traditional black and red flower, are consciously choosing to disrespect the solemn day of remembrance.

Either as individuals or as groups, we must not misappropriate a symbol so closely intertwined with honouring the dead and subvert it for one’s own political motivations — let alone use that symbol to advocate from the moral high ground upon which peace resides.

The Rideau Institute and those who choose to wear the white poppy are not the arbiters of morality, and neither am I. But when you ride on the coattails of a program which advocates for the acknowledgement of our veterans and raises money for programs that supports both them and their families, you no longer have a moral leg to stand on.

You don’t have to support a war to honour and remember those who died fighting in it. You are not encouraging more wars to be fought if you wear a poppy. On Remembrance Day, you don’t need to do anything but remember — if even for a few moments — those who have given their lives in the service of this country.

Don’t tar the measure of respect that veterans have earned, and continue to earn, by wearing a white poppy.

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Graphic: Stephanie Mah