it started as a simple symbol of remembrance but in recent years the
poppy has grown far beyond the lapel they've popped up in all sorts of places
from puppets to toasters causing tensions between those who support it as
well as those who don't and for some the decision not to wear a poppy is national
news we'll hear later about the footballer who's received death threats
for not wearing it you might have heard the term poppy fascism sometimes used to
describe people who draw attention to public figures who don't wear the poppy
but they're a tradition that have been running for a hundred years so where did
it begin let's go back to 1915 world war one picture the scene John McCrae a
Canadian Army doctor came across a devastating scene of chaos and
destruction at the Second Battle of Ypres inspiring him to write a poem if
he break faith with us who die we shall not sleep though poppies grow in
Flanders Fields he saw so many casualties and the way in which war
destroyed lives in he too lost valuable friends and comrades yet defiantly the
red Flanders poppy grew in the muddy battlefields and he was inspired to
write the poem in Flanders Fields in 1921 the poppy was adopted by the
British Legion to be sold to raise money for veterans
the debate over poppies isn't new the BBC is closely watched for its policies
around Maire presenters and on our guests summer see is a test of
patriotism for public figures the discussion has also extended onto the
football pitch Manchester United midfielder na manja Matich recently said
he will no longer wear a poppy on his shirt because it reminds him of when
Serbia was bombed when he was just 12 he said in an Instagram post that he didn't
want to offend anyone but it was a personal choice
another footballer James McLane has received death threats and abuse for his
decision not to wear it in 2012 twenty-three-year-old Whitfield he was
criticized for his decision not to plan a home he feeling should either support
your own funds and I don't and you know that this Rotom a farm and then on the
way home we pulled up a traffic lights and were pulled up and there's my cars
here and there's a car here and they Carol don't know I'm the one but no
wonder and drove off he still refuses to wear them today McClain is from Northern
Ireland why the role played by the British Army means the poppy is a
devices symbol and you might remember in 2016 when England and Scotland got into
trouble with FIFA for their decision to wear them during a match
FIFA we're treating poppies is a political symbol I think that's been
taken by FIFA is utterly outrageous FIFA's now changed its stance but it's
not just public figures who've been judged for their choices I was on radio
call-in show last year discussing this the first time I heard his comments and
heard what he had written my reaction was why hasn't he been shot if you dare
to stick your head above the parapet like this you're the one who gets shot
at and you can't have a grown-up debate about it in this country Remembrance
originally was the people who had lost loved ones mourning their dead now it's
become sort of a nationalistic sparring match between competing sides but lots
of young people continue to wear it as a sign of their pride for generations of
ex-servicemen and women it's important as we move through the generations that
work were one mobile to are not forgotten it's a symbol of remembrance
through those thousands of men that we lost so many years ago that we wouldn't
be here today without them on those battlefields after the mud and the rain
and everything was washed away the puppy was the first symbol of peace and hope
that came out of that and I think that's really what the poppy represents now the
Royal British Legion say the poppy is a symbol of remembrance and hope
not a symbol of death or a sign of support for war but 100 years after the
war that seeded the poppy and we've nobody now laughed who served on those
fields have modern values and beliefs grown too far from the original roots of
the appeal