i first saw it on sir alex ferguson's lapel, and it made me say to me dad: "what in the world is that ugly thing on his chest?"
then i saw it on a picture of prince william (can't find the image now, but here's a different one, with the same pin on his jacket):
i only JUST thought to connect it with remembrance day, and lo and behold, my "remembrance day" google told me exactly what that pin's all about.
it's the remembrance day poppy!!!
errr...the what?! well, remembrance day is a day dedicated to war heroes who were killed in conflict. it is observed on november 11 to recall the end of world war I on that date in 1918.
in the united kingdom, remembrance sunday (the sunday closest to november 11) is marked by ceremonies at local war memorials, with the principal ceremony held at the cenotaph in whitehall, london, where the queen, prime minister and other political leaders will lay wreaths of poppies.
a 2-minute silence is observed at 11am (time that world war I officially ended in 1918), with a single bugler playing the last post.
why the poppy? the poppy emblem was chosen because of the poppies that bloomed across some of the worst battlefields of flanders in world war I. their red color's an appropriate symbol for the bloodshed of trench warfare.
In Flanders Fields
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.
- John McCrae
remembrance day info found off wikipedia and bbc news.
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