The American Legion has called on Congress
to designate May 26, 2017, as National Poppy
Day to expand awareness and provide support
everywhere for all who have served and
sacrificed in the U.S. armed forces.
“The American Legion is pleased to bring
Poppy Day to the United States, joining
countries around the world who use the
symbolic flower to remember our fallen and
support the living,” American Legion
National Commander Charles E. Schmidt said.
This year, the Boeing Company is premier
sponsor to help The American Legion,
American Legion Auxiliary, Sons of The
American Legion and American Legion Riders
increase public understanding of the poppy,
its meaning and the ways in which it can be
used to help veterans today and remember
those who have served in the past.
The American Legion Auxiliary has been
conducting a Poppy Program for many years
and their members’ raise over $6 million
annually to provide support for veterans,
military servicemembers and their families.
“By wearing poppies on May 26, we honor
every U.S. servicemember who has given his
or her life in the name of liberty, freedom
and democracy,” Schmidt wrote in the May
issue of The American Legion Magazine. “At
the same time, by wearing this simple red
flower, we show our support for veterans of
generations to come.”
A new website at
www.legion.org/poppyday offers multiple
ways The American Legion Family can expand
awareness locally and regionally. Included
on the site are media tools, message points,
sample proclamations for elected officials
and easy access to the American Legion
Emblem Sales “Poppy Shop,” which offers an
assortment of affordable items including the
new National Poppy Day pin, kits for making
lapel poppies for distribution, fundraising
containers, charms, scarves and more.
Also through the website, National Poppy Day
donors can make safe, secure contributions
with their credit cards and dedicate their
gifts to personally honor veterans now
living or in memory of those who have
passed.
All donations directly support military
veterans and families through American
Legion programs.
American Legion Family members who plan
poppy distributions and similar
commemorations around May 26 and the week
leading into Memorial Day are urged to use
the hashtags #PoppyDay and #LegionFamily so
activities can be shared on Facebook,
Twitter and other social media channels.
American Legion Riders participating in
their annual Run to Thunder event in
Washington, D.C., as well as chapters
conducting local rides heading into Memorial
Day weekend, are also planning to make the
red poppy a visible symbol of sacrifice and
encouraging the public to wear or otherwise
display poppies to honor those who have
served.
The American Legion designated the red poppy
as its official flower at the organization’s
second national convention, Sept. 27, 1920.
Since then, members of The American Legion
Family have raised awareness in communities,
inspired by the 1915 poem of Canadian Lt.
Col. John McCrae, M.D., who saw firsthand
from the front lines of World War I the
emergence of red poppies around the graves
and in the battle zones where blood was shed
to protect freedom and democracy. He put
that image into words:
