In
Flander's Field" describes a battlefield of crosses dotted with red poppies.
The poem deeply touched the nation and the world, and, from that point on,
poppies became known throughout the world as a memorial flower, a reminder
of the lives lost in wartime.
"In Flanders
Fields"
by John McCrae
In Flanders Fields the poppies blow,
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky,
The larks, still bravely singing, fly,
Scarce heard amid the guns below.
We are the dead.
Short days ago,
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved and now we lie,
In Flanders Fields.
Take up our quarrel with the foe
To you, from failing hands, we throw,
The torch, be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us, who die,
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow,
In Flanders Fields.
Selling replicas of the original Flanders' poppy originated in some of the
allied countries immediately after the Armistice. In 1921, the
Franco-American Children's League began the first nationwide sale of poppies
to benefit children in the devastated areas of France and Belgium.
Madam Guerin, who was recognized as the "poppy lady" from France, sought and
received the cooperation of the VFW in 1922 after the Franco-American
Children's League was dissolved. The VFW conducted its first poppy sale
before Memorial Day in 1922 becoming the first veterans' organization to
organize a nationwide distribution. The poppy soon was adopted as the
official memorial flower of the Veterans of Foreign Wars of the United
States.
It was during the 1923 encampment that the VFW decided that VFW Buddy
Poppies be assembled by disabled and needy veterans who would be paid for
their work to provide them with some form of financial assistance. The plan
was formally adopted during the VFW's 1923 encampment. The next year,
disabled veterans at the Buddy Poppy factory in Pittsburgh, assembled VFW
Buddy Poppies. The designation "Buddy Poppy" was adopted at that time.
In February 1924, the VFW registered the name "Buddy Poppy" with the U.S.
Patent Office. A certificate was issued on May 20, 1924, granting the VFW
all trademark rights in the name of Buddy under the classification of
artificial flowers. The VFW has made that trademark a guarantee that all
poppies bearing that name and the VFW label are genuine products of the work
of disabled and needy veterans. No other organization, firm or individual
can legally use the name "Buddy" Poppy.
