White Poppy

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The White Poppy is used as a symbol of peace, worn as an alternative to the red poppy for Remembrance Day. It is worn to remember all victims of war, but its use instead of the usual red poppy is regarded as divisive and even offensive by some.

In 1926, a few years after the introduction of the red poppy in the UK, the idea of pacifists making their own poppies was put forward by a member of the No More War Movement (and that the black centre of the British Legion's red poppies should be imprinted with "No More War"). Nothing seems to have come of this, until in 1933 the Women's Co-operative Guild introduced the White Poppy; their intention was to remember all the war dead of all wars (rather than simply the British military dead signified by the red poppy), with the added meaning of a hope for the end of all wars. The Peace Pledge Union (PPU) took part in its distribution from 1934, and white poppy wreaths were laid from 1937 as a pledge to peace that war must not happen again.

[edit] Controversy

The white poppy is regarded as a divisive political gesture by those for whom the red poppy is a symbol of collective national remembrance. As the white poppy is worn at the same time as services of remembrance and collections for veterans' charities take place, it may also be regarded as disrespectful to the memory those who fought and died in war, or an act of opposition to the causes served by those charities. In addition, those who wear red poppies may resent the implication that they are in favour of war.^{[citation needed]}

Others take exception to the white poppy because of its association with the Peace Pledge Union.

Those who promote the wearing of white poppies argue that the red poppy also conveys a specific political standpoint, and point to the divisive nature of the red poppy in Northern Ireland, where it is worn mainly by the Unionist community. They choose the white poppy over the red often because they wish to disassociate themselves from the militaristic aspects of Remembrance Day, rather than the commemoration itself.^[1]

Some individuals choose to wear both white and red poppies.