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The red poppy has special significance for Australians as they were among the first to flower in the devastated battlefields of northern France and Belgium in the First World War. In soldiers’ folklore, the vivid red of the poppy came from the blood of their comrades soaking the ground.

Australians wear a red poppy on Remembrance Day for three reasons:

• In memory of the sacred dead who rest in Flanders’ Fields
• To keep alive the memories of the sacred cause for which they laid down their lives
• As a bond of esteem and affection between the soldiers of all Allied nations and in respect for France, our common battleground.