While Remembrance Day – when the UK honours the armed forces members who gave their lives in the line of duty – is on November 11, the Royal British Legion’s Poppy Appeal campaign starts much earlier. This year’s campaign kicks off today (October 26) and if you’ve already seen some poppy pins about, you might’ve noticed something different about them.
This year, the Royal British Legion has revealed a major redesign of the classic poppy pin. The main change is that, for the first time, the badge is now both plastic-free and recyclable.The new design is created from paper produced from a blend of renewable fibres (including offcuts from coffee cups), while the green plastic stem has been replaced with paper leaves with a crease and the black centre is now embossed with ‘Poppy Appeal’.
The process of redesigning the pin apparently took three years, with the aim of making the campaign more environmentally-friendly. The Legion’s poppies feel a little different but, unless you examine them up-close, they look very much the same as before.
And this isn’t the first time the poppy has been redesigned. Since the first Poppy Appeal in 1921, the pins have gone from silk and cotton to cardboard. Here’s how the poppy has evolved through the years.
Andy Taylor-Whyte, the Poppy Appeal director said: ‘We want to encourage as many people as possible to get a poppy this year and show their gratitude and support to those in the armed forces whose service and sacrifice should never be forgotten. We’re so proud that this year, we have our new plastic-free poppy too, so that the public can wear this poignant symbol of Remembrance, with less impact on the environment.’
While paper may feel more flimsy, the new poppies can easily be fastened on with a pin or attached in a buttonhole. There’s also a stick-on version available.
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