We acknowledge the sacrifices of many men and women who have lost their lives in the service of their country and we honour those who have served and continue to serve our nation. Covid has altered Remembrance Day ceremonies across the country. We still can honour our veterans and hold a two-minute silence on the 11th hour on the 11th day of the 11th month, to remember those who lost their life fighting for us.
2021 marks the 100th anniversary of the Remembrance Poppy in Canada
The symbol of Remembrance Day is the red poppy, which grows on the First World War battlefields of Flanders (in Belgium) and northern France. As the artillery barrages began to churn the earth in late 1914, the fields of Flanders and northern France saw scores of red poppies appear.
The first person to use the poppy as a symbol of remembrance was American Moina Michael, who had been inspired by Lieutenant-Colonel John McCrae’s poem “In Flanders Fields” Michael pledged in 1918 “always to wear a red poppy of Flanders Fields as a sign of remembrance and the emblem of ‘keeping the faith with all who died,’” referencing a line in the poem.
The first “poppy day” in Canada occurred on 11 November 1921. By 1922, lapel-worn poppies were manufactured and distributed by veterans in Canada. The Royal Canadian Legion, formed in 1925, has run the poppy fundraising campaign in Canada ever since.
https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/remembrance-day