A field of red poppies with an American flag and the word "Remembrance" appearing on a banner across the image signifies a tribute.

The Remembrance Poppy has been a symbol of lives lost to war since World War I, and Memorial Day poppies play a big part in the history of Memorial Day. The poppy as a symbol of war casualties started with a poem written by a Canadian artillery unit brigade surgeon named Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae when he saw bright red poppies blooming on the war-torn fields where so many soldiers had lost their lives. The sight moved him to write the famous poem “In Flanders Fields”.

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