Parva Pouriamehr/ Staff reporter
Remembrance Day, which used to be called the Armistice Day, is a federal statutory holiday in Canada and a day of celebrating and honoring the lives and their service in the military.
Since 1919 every year at 11:00 A.M. on the eleventh day of the eleventh month, people pause in a moment of silence to show respect to the hundred thousand Canadians who lost their lives, sacrificed their homes, and to those who tried their hardest to free their people and their country by fighting in the war.
Red poppies are the most known symbol of Remembrance Day, taken by the poem “in Flanders Field” by the Canadian physician Lieutenant-Colonel John McCrae, these poppies were also one of the first flowers to bloom on the battlefield and their vibrant red colour represents the blood spilled in the war.
Every year, The Legion National Foundation, in partnership with The Royal Canadian Legion, conducts the Digital Poppy campaign and people are able to donate money that goes into providing health, wellness programs, and other needs that Veterans and their families may have.
Although the National Remembrance Day Ceremony is held in Ottawa, there are still lots of different ceremonies happening all over Canada which allows people to honour the sacrifices that the Veterans made by attending.
There are many different ways on how people can appreciate this day, whether it’s by donating to local charities that help the Veterans or by simply wearing a poppy and thinking about all the brave things these people have done.
Sources:
https://www.nostoneleftalone.ca/why-we-celebrate-remembrance-day
https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/remembrance-day-poppy_
https://www.veterans.gc.ca/eng/remembrance/history/a-day-of-remembrance/why
https://justenergy.com/blog/10-facts-about-remembrance-day/
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