Timeless appeal

For many centuries flowers have been used to celebrate, commemorate and mourn our most significant events.

As early as 2,500 BCE Egyptians were creating elaborate floral Fields the poppies blow / Between the crosses row on row...’). displays for burials and processions. One of the oldest known In 1921 the New Zealand Returned Soldiers’ Association uses of burial flowers was discovered in an Iraqi burial site that (RSA) placed an order for thousands of silk poppies from the dated to 62,000 BCE. Her Royal Highness Queen Elizabeth II French Children’s League. There was some debate within RSA wore a wedding dress embellished with embroidered flowers circles on whether the poppies should be sold directly before from each of the Commonwealth countries. In each of these Armistice Day in November 1921 or on Anzac Day in April 1922. examples, flowers were used to highlight the importance of The popular narrative is that, in the end, the poppies arrived a particular situation. Flowers are also often chosen for their too late to be sold for Remembrance Day, so they were sold in associated meanings or, in the case of the Queen’s wedding in advance of Anzac Day instead. It was a huge success, with dress, to illustrate allegiance. some of the profits being sent to the French Children’s League The symbolic meanings behind flowers are equally important to help relieve suffering in the war-ravaged areas of northern when it comes to remembrance, conveying France. The RSA used the remainder to assist sentiment or celebratory events. Learning needy, unemployed returned soldiers and their the language of flowers became a popular families. The tradition continues today, with the pastime during the 1800s for Victorians, who funds providing welfare services to war veterans would often choose to give flowers as a way and the returned services community. of conveying messages they couldn’t say The RSA began producing its own poppies in person. For example, a white carnation in 1931, with disabled former servicemen in said ‘you’re adorable’ and a red carnation Auckland and Christchurch making them. The conveyed a flaming heart or passionate love. shape was similar to the poppy in the $2.80 A white lily represented virginity, purity and stamp (above) although was made of cloth heavenliness, an orange lily was a statement rather than paper. This example is thought of hatred and an orange marigold stood for to have been made between 1960 and 1977. grief or jealousy. The current ‘opened’ or ‘flat’ paper design was For the Victorians, the poppy stood for adopted for Poppy Day in 1978. consolation or comfort in times of grief. The poppy on the $4.10 stamp was used It therefore makes perfect sense that the in 2015 when an emergency shipment of poppy became a modern-day international Australian poppies was sent to New Zealand symbol of remembrance in World War because, owing to production problems at the One. Here in Aotearoa New Zealand the Christchurch factory, a machine expected to poppy is strongly associated with the produce up to 1.25 million poppies had only Royal New Zealand Returned and Services’ made about 800,000 in time for Anzac Day. Association’s annual charity appeal, which In an act of ANZAC solidarity, Australia agreed was established 100 years ago. The act of to provide the remaining required poppies at buying and wearing a poppy has become a cost price. powerful way to show support for veterans and to remember those who have passed. Madame Anna Guérin of France is credited Madame Anna Guérin of France, c. 1920. Image courtesy of The Evening Sun, Baltimore, USA. During the COVID-19 lockdown in April 2020, people couldn’t attend dawn services on Anzac Day. The Poppy Appeal was moved online, and with the idea of the remembrance poppy. people made their own poppies. The image of Through selling fabricated poppies, Guérin raised funds for a the crocheted poppy on the $4.90 stamp is a good example of charity to rebuild livelihoods in France after World War One. a home-made poppy, but a rich variety was made and displayed However, the poppy’s direct association with the war began throughout the country. The example on the stamp is from the earlier when it was noted that red poppies were one of the National Army Museum in Waiōuru, where a large collection of first flowers to grow in the mud and soil of the battlefields in similar poppies is on display. Flanders. This was famously observed by Canadian LieutenantColonel John McCrae in his poem In Flanders Fields (‘In Flanders