Why next year I will be wearing a red poppy

 I haven’t worn a red poppy since I was a teenager, when I rejected it as a badge of nationalism and war and, after briefly adopting a white poppy, stopped wearing any symbol of collective remembrance altogether. It was easier just to duck out of the whole thing than try to explain the complicated views and emotions. In recent years I have been increasingly tempted to wear a poppy again, not from any pressure from the right wing press or because of a radical change in political outlook, but because of an increased awareness of what it means to those who wear it. Teaching the history of early twentieth century Britain informed me of the original significance of the poppy, as a symbol of sombre memorial and rebirth to those millions who experienced world war one as personal grief rather than history. I read a number of intelligent commentators who gave views in favour that were far more nuanced than the annual Daily Mail harangue; that people continued to wear their poppies for a range of complex reasons, often closely related to the poppy’s original meaning. By last year I was seriously considering buying a poppy for the first time in over 25 years, but I had to decide, were my doubts still too great?

 First I asked whether these deaths, these wars, should be remembered at all. My conclusion was a pretty overwhelming yes. Certainly the tragedy and the carnage should be marked. In the shock of the immediate aftermath of these wars the collective act of remembrance brought comfort and support to those who had lost. Those people also promised that the dead would not be forgotten, that their memory would live on. Many of the wars, including the First World War, need not and should not have been fought and that should always be remembered, but given that they were fought, I’m glad the result was the way it was and am thus thankful to those who sacrificed themselves. Britain’s conduct in the Second World War was far from blemish free, but it’s hard to see a way other than fighting this war, to see Britain’s role as anything other than an important, if flawed, part of a great anti-fascist struggle. More recent wars are more troubling and I don’t like the way they are unquestioningly listed alongside other struggles, but people died and they should be remembered.

More controversial is how we should remember. Undoubtedly remembrance of war serves to bolster the current leadership, promote militarism and has been co-opted by those wishing to use it to further their own political agenda. There’s nothing new about this, in 431 BC Pericles stood before the mourners at the annual commemoration of the dead and urged his fellow Athenians to redouble their effort in what was a fairly bare faced imperialist struggle against the Peloponnesians; he reminded them of their, and by extension his greatness. I would prefer it if the services of remembrance were not so today, but we have the ceremonies that we have for a reason. The returning soldiers wished and wish to march in their military units, behind the flags they followed into battle. I would rather the Queen was not central, but those remembering want her to be there, she is the head of state, for her not to be there would be an enormous snub. Political leaders should be there too; today Jeremy Corbyn played a part many urged him not to, but he was respectful and appropriate and his participation allowed him to lay a wreath with a strong pro peace message that was entirely in keeping with the traditions of the poppy and remembrance. Not taking part, rejecting the ceremony, would have insulted many and done nothing for the sentiments he wished to communicate.

Remembrance continues to privilege the role of white, European men and can often forget others involved in war. Those who are ignored in this way do not generally wish to see an end to remembrance however, but to be remembered as well, as equals. Progress is only slowly being made toward a more diverse picture of past conflict. We have the ceremonies of remembrance we have and not necessarily the ones each of us would ideally want, but the best way to change this is to campaign for change, for more inclusion, for a broader concept of remembrance that includes all, rather than rejecting collective remembrance altogether and leaving it to those who care little for these views to shape how we remember.

 Then I thought of wearing a white poppy. Those who wear these poppies claim to do so as a deliberate rejection of the political viewpoints they see as being associated with the red poppy. The royal British legion say they have no problem with people wearing these poppies or laying them at official ceremonies of remembrance, but still I prefer not to wear one. To me the white poppy is as tainted with unfortunate political connotations as the red. It began life in the 1930s, distributed and promoted by the peace pledge union, a pacifist organisation with a questionable history. The PPU argued strongly against action to contain Nazi Germany. In seeking to acknowledge the real grievances of the German nation it became an apologist for Nazism. At the time George Orwell commented on the pacifist movement in the western democracies as being ‘objectively pro fascist’ and certainly the PPU was heavily infiltrated with fascist sympathisers. Maybe the negotiated agreement with Hitler they proposed would have been less deadly than war, but I am cynical. To me their attitudes are echoed in today’s anti-war movement, whose well-meaning opposition to action by our own government, and acknowledgment of genuine grievances, can easily become apologism for unpleasant and murderous movements and regimes. A rather selective pacifism, if you will. The white poppy also seems rather unnecessary; the original message of the red poppy already encompasses those sentiments claimed by wearers of the white poppy. Some of the most searing criticisms of current governments and their hypocrisy are delivered by angry veterans proudly wearing their red poppy. I did wear a white poppy for a couple of years as a sixth former, but I think it was as much about me as about remembrance, I wanted to mark myself as different (superior?) to those I saw as rather unthinkingly wearing their poppies. I am not saying this is the case for all who choose the white poppy, but I suspect it plays a part.

This question of the poppy as a signifier of identity is perhaps the crux of why I haven’t resumed poppy wearing before now. I am of the left; I am a labour party member and a trades union activist; I read the Guardian and flinch at the Express; my social milieu comprises people of similar views and habits. In matters of political and social commentary it is dominated by louder and more forthright voices that would position themselves to the left of me. We on the left like to think of ourselves as more open and accepting, but we still have prejudices, easy markers of whether somebody is ‘one of us’ or not. It starts with some pretty obvious stuff like not voting Tory, or regarding the UK’s change to a more multicultural society as being a generally positive rather than negative, but it quickly moves to more contentious territory, usually to do with foreign affairs, where the choices are less obvious, but where support for the ‘wrong’ side can mark you. Then there’s the faintly ridiculous, I mean supporting Chelsea over Arsenal is a perfectly valid choice for a left wing anti-racist, honestly! Wearing a red poppy puts you firmly on the wrong side of these divisions; it’s a signifier of not being one of the good people. Britain first and the Mail and the military like poppies, “we” don’t. It’s not really an intelligent attitude, more a knee jerk reaction to the prejudice shown to those who choose not to wear the poppy. It shouldn’t be a reason to not do what I feel is right.

 So next year I’ll buy a poppy. The money goes to a good cause and I’ll be remembering what should be remembered. It doesn’t mean I support militarism, it doesn’t mean I don’t take a highly critical view of remembrance in its current incarnation and it certainly doesn’t mean I support the current government. My reasons are complex and thought out, as I suspect, are those of many people who wear the poppy, as much as those who choose not to.