Is the poppy a political symbol?

[Buddahaid]

White poppies? Red poppies? I'm poppy illiterate it seems.

[Oberon]

Originally Posted by Buddahaid

White poppies? Red poppies? I'm poppy illiterate it seems.

You don't hear much of the white poppy movement any more, but they've been around for a long time.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_poppy

[Buddahaid]

Oh good grief! I'm sorry I read that. What matters is that we DO remember, not in the details of how.

[Oberon]

Originally Posted by Buddahaid

Oh good grief! I'm sorry I read that. What matters is that we DO remember, not in the details of how.

True, but the question does always remain...do we sully their names if we do not seek to bring about peace and the end of warfare...or do we do it if we avoid fighting a just war? That question becomes especially complicated when you look at the origins of the poppy in the First World War which, unlike the second, was a war that happened because, as Blackadder put it, it was too much effort to not have a war. It's very hard to consider WWI as a 'just' war.

Either which way it probably does no good to overthink matters, but I do have my concerns about making the poppy some kind of hallowed symbol, and provoking outrage whenever it seems that the symbol has been slighted by someone. I think that undermines the point of it somewhat.

[Jimbuna]

FIFA have already set their own precedent.

In 2011 they threatened to ban them in an England game against Spain, before eventually backing down and allowing them to be displayed on a black armband.

[Jimbuna]

Apparently FIFA have agreed on the Poppy being worn..................once the brown envelope with the million pounds in used notes has been left under the park bench.

[Oberon]

If there's precedence for it then I see no problem.

Back to what I was talking about earlier, this twitter exchange serves as a good example of the concern I have.