Remembrance Day: November 11th...wear a Flanders Poppy...

Issued by the British Legion, Appeals Department, to promote Field Marshal Haig's 'Poppy Appeal' of 1923. The vivid black and red design of this poster by Maurice Kirth depicts a battlefield which is now a crimson field of poppies. A single grave signified by a white cross is visible in the centre right. The text encourages viewers to 'Wear a Flanders Poppy' and incorporates a quote from the poem 'In Flanders Fields' by Canadian Medical Officer, John McCrae which inspired the adoption of the red poppy as an emblem of remembrance. The image takes up the whole with the title and text overlayed both set within red and black borders.

The British Legion acted as the Haig Fund co-ordinating body, planning the distribution and managing collections for Poppy Day. Formed in 1921 it became the most significance charitable organisation for the welfare of returned servicemen and was the result of an merging of four pre exisiting organisations. The British Legion held its first ever Poppy Appeal on 11 November 1921 and by 1922 established its own factory, employing disabled veterans, for the manufacture of poppies.