Today is Remembrance Day!

Today is a Remembrance Day in Canada and Australia as well as the rest of the Commonwealth. It is called Veterans' Day in America. It is a day of remembrance for the soldiers who fought and died in the war, specially since the First World War. On November 11th, 1918 the war officially ended ''at the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month'' . Annually in Canada there is a big parade and service held. At the 11th hour, there is a minute of silence followed by a reading of the poem, In Flanders Fields.

The red poppy has become a familiar symbol of Remembrance Day due to the poem In Flanders Fields. These poppies bloomed across some of the worst battlefields of Flanders in World War I, their brilliant red colour an appropriate symbol for the blood spilt in the war. In Canada poppies are often worn throughout the month of November in the form of a pin on your jacket or handbag.

The poem In Flanders Field was written by a Canadian physician and Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae. It is recited and memorized in schools all across Canada.