Rememberence Day

The first Remembrance Day to be held in was on November 11, 1919. At the time, it was an unofficial holiday referred to as Armistice Day. Its purpose, just like today, was for people to pay their respects to the soldiers who fought in World War 1 and to remember the Canadian soldiers who had died in the form of a ceremony. Armistice Day marks the date and time the soldiers stopped fighting during World War 1 (the 11^th hour of the 11^th day of the 11^th month).
             In 1931, Canadian MP Allen Neill made a bill to have November 11^th as the official day to honour all Canadian war veterans. This day was to be dedicated to Canadian soldiers from then on. Also, it was decided that the word Armistice would be changed to Remembrance, because we remember all those who fought for our country.
            Today, all government buildings fly the Canadian National flag on the eleventh of November during a two minute silence at 11:00 am. This is to say a silent prayer or thank you for the approximate 100,000 Canadian soldiers who died during World War 1 and World War 2 Combined.

 

But why the poppy? The poppy is used as the traditional symbol of Remembrance Day. It was chosen to represent the soldiers because it was the only thing that survived in Flanders (the whole Western part of Belgium). Flanders was where the First World War was. Because of the war, all things there were destroyed, except the poppies. Today, we use the poppy flower the symbol because it symbolizes comfort and hope and brought faith to the soldiers by its vibrant colour and beauty.

Sources:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/newsround/15492228
http://www.canoe.ca/RemembranceDay/poppy.html
http://www.bbc.co.uk/remembrance/how/poppy.shtml
http://www.historyextra.com/remembrance
http://www.warmuseum.ca/cwm/exhibitions/guerre/remembrance-day-e.aspx
http://www.history.ca/daysofremembrance/
http://www.greatwar.co.uk/article/remembrance-poppy.htm