Remembrance Day poppy: what it is, where the money goes, and how to give

The poppy began appearing on coats across the country this month, and most people wearing one could tell you it honours the dead. Fewer could tell you where it came from or where the money goes.

The symbol is older than the war it is tied to. Writings from the Napoleonic campaign of the early 19th century remark on the number of poppies that bloomed after battles. During the First World War, artillery strikes turned harsh soils rich with lime from the rubble of destroyed buildings, and the common poppy flourished in the churned ground. That sight inspired Lieutenant-Colonel John McRae, a Canadian war medic, to write "In Flanders Fields."

An American teacher, Moina Michael, pledged to wear a poppy on her lapel after hearing the poem. A French woman, Madame Guérin, heard of the custom while visiting the United States and began distributing handmade poppies to raise money for war orphans. In 1921 the Great War Veterans' Association, the predecessor of the Royal Canadian Legion, adopted the poppy as its official Flower of Remembrance.

The Legion's protocol is specific. The poppy goes on the left side, over the heart, and should not be fixed with a pin that obstructs it. It is usually worn from the last Friday in October until Nov. 11. The Legion also suggests wearing one at veterans' funerals and at commemorative events, such as the anniversary of the Battle of Vimy Ridge.

What happens to the money is the part most donors ask about. Donations to the Poppy Campaign are held in trust as the Poppy Fund. According to the Legion, the fund supports currently serving and retired members with grants for food, heating, clothing and prescription medication. It also pays for low-rent housing facilities, community medical equipment, medical research and meals-on-wheels programs. Money goes toward building and maintaining memorials and supporting the surviving spouses and families of veterans.

The Legion says much of the year's donations to the Poppy Trust Fund come during the National Poppy Campaign, and that locally raised money is used locally. This year's campaign launched on October 24 and runs to November 11, with a new tap-on-phone contactless donation option. RBC supports the Legion's 2,000 tap-enabled Poppy boxes, and TD Bank distributes poppies through all its branches.

The charity watchdog Charity Intelligence has a caveat. In a 2024 update to its review of the Poppy Fund, it said the Legion does not report key metrics such as the number of veterans helped or the average grant size. Without those figures, the group wrote, donors cannot easily see the difference their money makes. The Legion's own figures are its own to explain; the watchdog's point is that the outcomes are not measured in the public record.

If you want to give, there are three routes. You can donate to a Poppy Campaign volunteer on the street or to the donation box in a store. You can give in person at any local Legion branch. Or you can send a year-round donation to the Dominion Command Poppy Trust Fund at the Royal Canadian Legion National Headquarters, 86 Aird Place, Ottawa, Ontario, K2L 0A1, by cash, money order or cheque.

On the day itself, the one thing the Legion asks is that the poppy be worn where it can be seen, and that the pin not hide the flower.