Remembrance means different things to different people, writes Baroness Jenny Jones
Remembrance Day is about joining together to respect the dead and we each have our own memories when we do so.
Personally, I wear a red poppy, but I wear a white one too. One of the defining features of modern wars is the vast numbers of civilians who are killed as well. Over 140,000 civilians are estimated to have died in the Iraq war or its aftermath.
The white poppy is one way of remembering them. From those thousands in Iraq, to the Londoners who died in the blitz and the citizens of Nagasaki and Hiroshima, the white poppy speaks for them. When the red wreaths are laid at the cenotaph and at numerous memorials around the country, would a wreath of white poppies be out of place? Should we remember all of the dead, or only those in uniforms?
Many in the media have pushed the FA to ignore the FIFA rules and put them on armbands for players to wear at the England vs Scotland game next Friday, but what if one of the players wanted to wear a white poppy as well? What if one of the players didn’t want to wear one?
The Republic of Ireland footballer, James McLean refused to wear one at a Wigan game because of the British army’s role in Northern Ireland. Would some English or Scottish players feel awkward about wearing a red poppy if England were playing Ireland next week, or even Germany? After all, none of us should feel obliged to wear, or not wear, a poppy.
I feel that the dead from the numerous conflicts and wars need to be remembered. The reasons why we remember them will vary. For some it is the loss of relatives or friends. The dead should not be forgotten and the British Legion works extremely hard to ensure that the families of people in the services are supported.
The white poppy was first introduced by the Women’s Co-operative Guild in 1933 and is now sold by the Peace Pledge Union. Their motto is:
“War is a crime against humanity. I renounce war, and am therefore determined not to support any kind of war. I am also determined to work for the removal of all causes of war.”
That belief; that we should not only remember the dead, but also think about the reasons they died, has always been surrounded by controversy. Some women lost their jobs in the 1930s for wearing the white poppy, on the basis that their campaign undermined those who been killed in service.
In the 1980s, Margaret Thatcher expressed her distaste for the white poppy. I hope Theresa May will refrain from being equally divisive. If not wearing a red poppy or wearing white one is ‘making a statement’, then why is a red poppy not a statement? Why have statements become undesirable? Surely the point of Remembrance Day is to give us a collective space to think about it all?
The Royal British Legion seems fairly relaxed and play down the controversy. They say on their website: ‘We have no objection to white poppies, or any group expressing their views. We see no conflict in wearing the red poppy alongside the white poppy.’
Remembrance Day is about joining together to respect the dead and we each have our own memories when we do so. Personally, I respect the dead by taking a moment to think, to question and to act according to my conscience.
Jenny Jones is a Green Party peer and a former London Assembly Member
See also: Poppy wars are a seasonal distraction from the horrors of today
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11 Responses to “What if a British footballer wanted to wear a white poppy?”
David Lindsay
Some of the people whom I most respect politically, and sometimes in other spheres as well, wear the white poppy. But I must admit that I am not convinced. The red poppy was initially, and it is still properly, anything but a glorification of war. The white poppy message to “remember all victims of war” is already included, and the red poppy no longer features the name of Haig.
White poppy money goes to the Peace Pledge Union, a campaigning organisation for absolute pacifism (a cause to which I do not subscribe), rather than to a welfare charity of any kind. Wear your red poppy with pride. I am wearing mine as I write. Because of what it really means.
Mick
White poppies are political items. And the politics can veer into whackjob territory, with the opposition to ALL war. Indeed, had Tony Benn’s view prevailed that liberating the Falklands was wrong, some of his own countrymen would still be occupied by a tyranny.
Unite Against Fascism? Not when it suits many on the Left!
Red poppies are in remembrance of those servicepeople who fell and can, in all our hearts, also stand for those who died on home fronts.
CR
The white poppy is an anti-British political symbol. A symbol of surrender to the worst sort of political correctness.
David Lindsay
Mick, there is plenty of “whackjob” politics on the red poppy side, too. To put things at their very, very mildest.
Mick
Well, then the left can throw stones, can they?