Why do the French use the blue cornflower rather than the red poppy as a symbol of war remembrance?

LordBefalas

The tradition of the poppy comes from the poem "In Flanders Fields" by John McCrae. The French translation, "Au Champs d'Honneur" ("On the Field of Honor") refers to "coquelicots," which are also poppies. But the French "bleuet" (which you're calling a "cornflower," although "bluebell" might be a better translation) precedes the Commonwealth tradition of poppies -- it originally commemorated the production of blue-colored cloth by wounded soldiers who fought in the 1914-1918 war as they recovered in the famous Paris hospital Les Invalides, and now the bleuet symbol honors all veterans. The poppies inspired by "In Flanders Fields" thus honor the dead; "les bleuets" honor the wounded. http://www.onac-erp-soisy.com/erp/Bleuet_France.htm Nov 07 09, 11:33 PM

gmackematix

Indeed, LB. According to a recent Radio 4 programme called "Poppies are Red, Cornflowers are Blue", while there are worries that the poppy is being too commercialised, for example, with all the Poppy branded souvenir products in Flanders, the cornflower or "bleuet" is having the opposite problem. Observance of the custom has faded greatly in recent years. Nov 09 09, 3:10 AM