'Remembrance Day poppies should be white'

[Still Waters]

White poppies should be worn on Remembrance Sunday rather than the traditional red poppy to commemorate civilian victims rather than Britain's military dead, actor Mark Rylance has said,

Red poppies are traditionally worn every November as a mark of respect to war veterans, members of the Armed Forces who have lost their lives, and their families.

Mr Rylance said he was moved to wear white because 90 per cent of casualties of war are now civilians, not soldiers.

http://www.telegraph...d-be-white.html

[Coffey]

Agree with a lot of what he says.

[Urisk]

It's not just about remembering soldiers lost in modern warfare. I do agree that civilian casualties should perhaps be remembered as well.

The poppy thing is quite a cynical tradition anyway. It started as a ploy by the Lord Hague to get him out of the hot water created by being a very stupid and cowardly general. People began to take umbridge to his sending hundreds of young soldiers to their deaths while sat 3 miles back drinking champaigne and eating salmon sandwiches. So he invented a custom to remember all those poor brave souls who lost their lives fighting for our freedom.

It's a lovely sentiment, sadly it did not begin with the right intentions.